MASQUERADE
by Xandra Fox
Summary: In the land of Hyrule, there echoes a legend that tells of a boy. Cursed beyond recognition and left for dead, he clawed his way out of the Earth and happened upon the mysterious world of Termina, a world on the brink of an inevitable calamity. But how can he light the way for those who despair if he himself cannot remove his own mask? *DISCONTINUED*
1. PROLOGUE: The Stream

**UPDATE AS OF MARCH 2014: Whoa. I guess I should have put this here, like...a year ago. But in case you hadn't noticed the MEMO in the summary, this story has been discontinued. There is a more detailed explanation on my profile if you're curious. It's really not a big deal. In short, I lost interest. Just thought I should get my butt over here and say something since it looked like this story was still getting hits now and then. I think people who click on this story deserve to know what they're getting themselves into.  
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**Is there any way I will regain interest in this? No. If I decide I want to write about Majora's Mask again, I would much rather start a completely new story (not a novelization...) than continue this mess.**

**Will this stay on the site? Most likely, yes. I have this personal honor system thing where I won't take fics down unless it's for a good reason, and embarrassment is not one of them. I'll only get rid of it if I decide to rewrite parts of it into a different story one day. Always a possibility, though I doubt that will happen any time soon.  
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* * *

><p><strong>Beta Reader:<strong>** Hoprocker **

**Rated****: T **

A mild T. Mainly for dark themes and some alcohol (Er...Chateau Romani) references later on. Also, violence and minor amounts of language.

**Genres:** Drama/Mystery/Adventure/Fantasy...Humor...maybe just a hint of romance. Honestly, there's something in it for everyone.

**World:** Majora's Mask and Post-Ocarina of Time

**Other Info:** This is a retelling/novelization (a very non-linear one) geared toward avid fans of _Majora's Mask_, not a word-by word rehash of the game. My goal is to provide new content for the old fans and expand Termina's mythology, not to simply transfer the game to a different medium. You came to read a story, not a text dump, didn't you?

That being said...be prepared for unexpected plot and character development, and some answers to long time mysteries you may or may not like (hopefully you will like them because I did my dang research and tried very hard to base my theories in canon evidence). I like to think the game itself is like an unfinished puzzle, and this story is an attempt to fill in some of the missing pieces. Though there are times when the old pieces will need to be altered to make everything fit together. Thanks so much for taking the time to check out this story! I hope you enjoy it! :)

**-o-o-o-o-o-**

~MASQUERADE~

"**PROLOGUE"**

**-o-o-o-o-o-**

"Link?" Tatl murmured.

Link didn't answer. He stood like a statue at the edge of the meadow, staring down into the small stream that trickled along the outskirts of Romani Ranch. His features were frozen in a stern, almost angry expression. But a tear rolled down his cheek and betrayed his true emotions.

Tatl sighed. She glided down to sit in the grass beside him, resting her tired wings. A sound like thunder rumbled in the distance. Tatl felt the ground tremble beneath her, as if the Earth itself was afraid of the terror that lurked above among the orange and black clouds. The rumbling died down until only a pair of cackling crows disturbed the stillness of the crisp evening air.

Several minutes passed before Link finally spoke.

"It's not fair," he said, wiping his eyes.

"No," Tatl agreed sadly.

Link looked as if he wanted to say more, but he just squeezed his eyes shut and shook his head. His fists were clenched at his sides, shaking ever so slightly.

"Don't beat yourself up," Tatl told him. "There's nothing else we can do."

Link took a deep breath. "I know," he said. "Just like we couldn't do anything about Darmani, or the deku butler's son." His eyes burned fiercely, his rage becoming clear.

Tatl shook her head. "Link, we've been through this."

"And there's someone else I've been wondering about. Anju's fiancé, Kafei. What do you think happened to him? Huh, Tatl?"

"I don't know."

"Did Skull Kid kill _him _too? Well? _Do you know?_"

"No!" Tatl shot up to face Link head on, wings beating furiously. "I don't know anything about him!" she snapped. "Don't get mad at me again!"

Link exhaled, his expression yielding. "Sorry."

Tatl flitted back to her usual space by Link's right ear, satisfied with his apology. She knew this was no time to start picking a fight. If she pushed him too hard, nothing good would come out of it.

"Are we even making a difference?" Link wondered aloud.

Tatl frowned. "I think so," she said, though she wasn't sure she believed her own words.

Another quiet tremor filled the lapse in their conversation. Link looked to the North, where the desolate Clock Town lay. And further beyond, the snow-capped mountains.

"That time we went to the mountains, and that time we went to the swamp...everything..." he muttered, "none of it exists anymore. No one remembers any of it."

"I remember!" Tatl cried out. "And you do too."

"But no one else does," Link said, his sadness suddenly replaced by a cold, hard bitterness.

"Link, if we both remember all of those days, then they must have happened."

"No!" Link shot back, turning to face her. "You and I only remember because _we _were the ones who erased those days!"

A violent quake shook the Earth and almost threw Link off balance. He put his hand on his belt, instinctively reaching for the Ocarina of Time.

"In a couple minutes I'm going to play the ocarina again. And then Romani and Cremia won't remember us anymore either." He took out the ocarina. "We'll run off to solve someone else's problems and they'll be left to fend off those _things_ by themselves."

"Even if Romani and Cremia don't-"

"Look at me, Tatl!" Link interrupted. "I try to make one person happy, but sacrifice dozens of others to do it! I fool others by wearing dead peoples' souls on my _face_!" He thrust the blue ocarina at her. "And then I erase it all, forcing everyone to go through the same horrible three days over and over and _over_ again."

The tired boy let his arm fall back to his side and looked away. "I'm just as bad as Skull Kid. No, worse."

"Don't say that!" Tatl pleaded, "I know you! You're nothing like Skull Kid. I'll never forgive him for what he did to Tael, to you...to everyone!"

Link didn't turn around. "For some reason, when you say things like that, it doesn't make me feel any better."

Another threatening rumble rebounded across the land. Once it died down, an eerie silence remained. Even the crows had fled…

"We should go soon," Tatl said.

Link looked back into the water flowing before him, where his own reflection stared up at him blankly. He followed the current's sparkling path with his eyes until it disappeared over the darkening horizon.

"I wonder..." he said quietly, "what if we just...let it fall. What do you think would happen?"

"We would all die, obviously!" Tatl exclaimed, appalled that he would suggest such a thing.

"No, really. Think about it," he said. "What would _really_ happen...if we did nothing?"

"Link, you're scaring me."

Link's gaze wandered to the ocarina clutched in his hand. The sacred instrument seemed to glow in the waning rays of the sun. He ran his thumb over the holes that dappled its smooth, polished surface, a distant look in his blue eyes.

"Hey," Tatl drifted forward, "what are you thinking?"

Link didn't look at her. He brought his arm back behind his ear and threw the Ocarina of Time into the stream. Tatl gaped in disbelief as it spun through the air and made a horrific splash into the water.

"Link!" she gasped, clutching her head. "You-you _moron!_ _Have you gone mad_?"

"Heh. Not at all," he replied calmly.

"You've _killed_ us!" she wailed, bobbing up and down rapidly, too distressed to even bother beating him over the head.

"No," Link said, a small smirk playing at the corners of his lips, "I just saved us."

Without another word, Link turned away from the stream and began walking back up the hill toward the ranch house.

"Idiot!" Tatl spat after him, but he didn't falter. She glanced back and forth between the stream and his retreating figure, unsure whether to follow him or attempt to retrieve the ocarina before it was too late. It didn't take her long to make a decision.

She took off down the tiny river's path. If Link was going to be stupid, she'd take it upon herself to set things right. She darted above the water like a dragonfly, combing the ripples for a gleam of silver-blue.

And then she saw it. The ocarina was bumping along the bottom of the stream about two feet deep. For Link it would have been an arms reach away. For her, it was a solid dive to the bottom.

"I'll kill you for this Link!" she growled. She flattened her wings against her body, took a deep breath and plunged into the water.

The water was unexpectedly chilly, but Tatl stayed her course. She pushed herself toward the bottom, moving with the current, and stretched her arm out toward the ocarina. Her fingertips brushed against it, but it slipped away. If only she could get a grip on the flute by one of its holes. She parted the water with her arms to gain momentum and tried to grab hold of it again, but it remained just out of reach. Her lungs near bursting, she kicked out her legs and propelled herself upward. As she broke the surface she went to take in a gulp of air, but her vision and mouth filled with water. She tried to stabilize herself in the current, but her right wing had come unfolded and was causing her to veer sideways. She flailed helplessly, choking and disoriented, as the rapids thrashed her about. Her chest felt like it was about to burst, and for a brief moment she wondered if this was the end…

Next thing she knew she was slammed face down on the bank gasping for air, coughing and retching up the water that had seeped into her mouth and nose. She tried to pull herself up for another go, but a sudden wave of exhaustion overcame her. Her arms buckled and she collapsed on the bank, shivering. It was no use. If she were able to get a grip on the ocarina, it still would have been too heavy for her tiny arms to lift, even with the force of the water helping her. She was too small…too weak to do anything. She should have known it was pointless.

She sat up and spread her soaked and wrinkled wings, attempting to ignore the flecks of freezing water dripping from her hair. She sucked in some air, but her breath caught in her throat and she burst into another round of violent coughing. As she hacked her insides dry, her violent coughs became mixed with sobs. Not from the pain in her throat, but from the feeling of hopelessness that suddenly pervaded her mind as the Earth shook yet again. Tatl forced herself not to look up at the sky where the moon glowered down, fixating her with its unblinking red eyes. It cast an ominous shadow over the world in the final minutes of twilight, a triumphant smile stretched across its vast demonic face.

As if it knew it had won.


	2. ARC 1: LOOKING GLASS

**A/N: **I'm guessing if you're here, you liked what you read. GOOD. That makes me happy. :)

I wanted to do something a bit different to kick off this story, so this chapter is special. Don't be discouraged from reading on if you absolutely hate the style; this chapter is the only one of its kind.

**-o-o-o-o-o-**

~MASQUERADE~

**LOOKING GLASS ARC  
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**-o-o-o-o-o-**

Water...churns a single wheel, spinning it. Setting it into motion. That wheel connects to a gear mechanism, causing it to spin as well. The clinking gears interlock with one another, forming a chain of unbroken harmony...

A greenish haze lingers in the damp air, and clumps of grass creep up between cracks in the yellowing stone floor tiles. Though time rots away at the insides of this mysterious place, the water never stops moving. And so the brittle, moss-encrusted gears continue to turn and turn...unbeknownst to the rest of the world.

In the land of Hyrule there echoes a legend that tells of a boy. A boy who parted ways with a beloved and invaluable friend...

For days, that boy wandered the woods in search of his lost friend, until he himself became lost...

...and ended up here.

He peers into the sloshing water below, lamenting his altered reflection; his skin turned to chestnut bark, his hair reduced to dry leaves, his nose and mouth replaced by a hollow wooden snout. But what stands out most are his gloomy orange eyes, which emit a dim bioluminescent glow in the darkness. They are very sad, those eyes…desperate, even. Drooping under the weight of some unspoken tragedy.

Suddenly, a yellow forest fairy flies out of his hat and drives her little body into his head.

"Quit checking yourself out and get a move on!" she barks. "Do you want to catch up with the Skull Kid or not?"

The boy gives the fairy a begrudging look, but complies. I wait in the shadows as he ascends a winding wooden ramp, journeying past the ever-turning clockwork that escalades far into the upper reaches of the tower. When he reaches the top floor he wanders straight past me. But the fairy throws a cautious glance over her shoulder, likely sensing my presence.

"This place creeps me out," she says, turning back to her companion. "Can't you walk any faster, Deku Boy?"

His light footsteps speed up slightly as he treads toward the double door at the far side of the room. Musty, humid air peels away at the red and blue paint on the door's marred surface. The once beautiful door has faded with age and erosion, for though great care is taken to preserve the outside...the inside has been all but forgotten. Just before the boy reaches the door, I reveal myself to him.

"You've met with a terrible fate, haven't you?"

He spins around, alarmed. Though his wooden features remain frozen in a forlorn expression. The fairy takes one look at me and darts behind his green-capped head.

"Ho Ho Ho," I laugh. "Sorry...didn't mean to frighten you." I take a bow and introduce myself, "I'm the Happy Mask Salesman. I travel far and wide in search of masks."

The boy tries to speak, but only manages to produce a small grunt with that foreign mouth.

"It's alright. I know you can't speak. All you need to do is listen," I tell him, tipping forward to his eye level. I carry on, "during my travels, a very important mask was stolen from me by an imp." A shade of recognition passes over the boy's face.

"Yes… you've gotten a good look at that mask, haven't you?" I muse. "That mask was originally in my possession. I was just gallivanting through the woods, minding my own business...as I normally do…when the imp took me by surprise," I reminisce, rubbing a sore spot on my neck.

"I must have blacked out for a little while, for when I awoke, the imp was gone. I immediately rooted through my pack to make sure all my wares were still intact, only to discover that my most prized mask had gone missing," I sigh, "So here I am at a loss...and now I've found _you_."

The boy cocks his head to one side.

"Ohoho yes. _You_. Now don't think me rude, but as you may have guessed, I have been following you for some time now," I admit, placing a hand on my chin thoughtfully. "For I know of a way to return you to your former self."

He blinks up at me curiously. His sad eyes glow a little brighter at this prospect.

"However, in order to undo what has been done…" I continue, "you'll need the precious item that was stolen from you. I'm prepared to offer you a deal. If you can get back your instrument, I will return you to normal. But in exchange..." I open up my arms. "All I ask is that you also get back my precious mask."

He looks down at his feet. The unmistakable air of doubt that looms over him never seems to subside.

"What, is it not a simple task?" I chuckle. "Why, to someone like _you_, it should by no means be a difficult task. And…it's a fair trade, isn't it? You recover our stolen items, I help you regain your original form…you were planning to go after the imp anyway, weren't you?"

The fairy ventures out from behind the boy's head. "How-" she falters, "-how come you haven't tried to get the mask back yourself?" I pause a moment and consider how I should respond to her question. She has a lot of nerve, that fairy.

"The one thing is, I'm a very busy fellow, and I must leave this place in three days," I dodge. I turn my gaze back to the deku scrub, "How grateful I would be if you could bring it back to me before my _time_ here is up."

The fairy is about to say something, but the boy raises his hand and stops her. Our eyes meet, and he nods slowly. He still seems so uncertain...

"Ho ho ho, I had a feeling you would accept! But yes, you'll be fine," I reassure him. "I see you are young and have tremendous courage. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if you found it right away."

The boy nods once more and turns back to the old door. I thought I sensed a spark of determination behind those permanently sad eyes. Though I may have imagined it...

"Well then," I say, as a thin crack of sunlight floods through the doorway,

"I am counting on you."


	3. The Boy Who Came Out of Nowhere

**A/N:** This line indicates a cut to or from a flashback:

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><p>You probably could have figured that out on your own, but what the heck. There's no harm in clarifying these things. You have no idea how happy I am to finally upload this freaking chapter. Also, just FYI...if you read a chapter right after I submit it, there may be some instances where random words are missing. Words just get lost in the publishing process for no reason whatsoever. I always do a final read-through before I update, but I don't always catch all the errors the first time.<strong><br>**

**-o-o-o-o-o-**

~MASQUERADE~

**Chapter 1: The Boy Who Came Out of Nowhere**

**-o-o-o-o-o-**

Link opened his eyes.

Sunlight flooded his vision. He blinked the bright light away, and blurry blue and white shapes before him sharpened into focus. Wispy clouds, set amidst a vast blue sky…

For a long time he lay on his back, just gazing up at the peaceful sky. But the longer he rested, the more he couldn't help but feel something was amiss. Everything was too quiet, too still. It was then that he realized the clouds above weren't moving. Perplexed, he turned his head to the side, and saw the Master Sword was still clutched in his hand.

He used his arms to push himself into a sitting position and rose to his feet with some effort, his sore muscles protesting. He groaned, pressing a hand to an open gash on his shoulder. Upon examining his body, he saw he was slashed up in several other places, extremely dirty, and to his surprise, dripping wet.

He was standing on a thin sheet of water no deeper than the tips of his fingernails, an unbroken mirror save for the ripples forming at his feet. Clouds swirled across the water's reflective surface, creating the illusion that the sky extended below endlessly. The ethereal vista stretched on for miles and miles in every direction, as far as the eye could see.

Sensing no threat, Link put the Master Sword back in its sheath. He vaguely wondered where he was, but then fatigue overcame his mind and didn't allow him to think. He closed his eyes and breathed in and out through his nose slowly, letting the sun warm his skin. He could feel Navi fluttering by his side as always, her soft wing beats tousling his hair.

Suddenly, a familiar voice spoke from behind him. "Thank you, Link."

He spun around. Princess Zelda stood before him, disheveled; her golden hair windswept. Like him she was coated in a layer of dirt and debris, and her rosy dress was spattered with dark blood in places.

"Princess!" Link exclaimed, relieved to find her in such a strange, desolate place. And then a horrible realization hit him.

"Are we dead?" he asked.

A surprised, but tired laugh escaped Zelda's lips. "No." she said, "Not yet."

Link breathed a little easier, relieved that he had been wrong to assume the worst. The events of the past several hours began to resurface in his mind one by one: the escape from the crumbling castle, the brutal battles in which he had received the bloody gashes torn into his chainmail and skin.

"Ganondorf," Link said, "is he...?"

"He's been sealed away."

And so it was done. The war that had plagued Hyrule for seven years was over.

Zelda managed a small smile. "He's gone now…and it's all thanks to you, Link." Her gentle blue eyes shone with gratitude, but there was a restless stir just beneath the surface. She turned away and stared into the distance wistfully, brushing a loose strand of hair away from her face.

"We were so young then…that day we met in the castle courtyard," she said after a long pause. "It seems like an eternity ago. But for you…"

"Months," Link finished.

"Months." Zelda frowned. It was clear something was bothering her. Link waited for her to say what was on her mind.

"All the tragedy that has befallen Hyrule was my doing," she muttered, avoiding his eyes.

"No." Link shook his head, astonished that she'd say such a thing so soon after their victory. "Don't say that. Ganondorf is the one to blame—"

"But it's my fault he acquired his power to begin with! Back then…I could not comprehend the consequences of trying to control the sacred realm. I made a serious error in judgment, and…" She met his gaze again reluctantly. "I dragged you into it."

Link opened his mouth to speak, but he stopped short when he saw into her eyes. They were filled with remorse, and something else...pity.

Zelda sighed. "Link…give the ocarina to me," she said, offering her hand. "It is time I made up for my mistakes."

Link hesitated a moment, but then took out the cobalt ocarina, turning it over in his palm to admire it one last time. He placed the sacred instrument in Zelda's gloved hand, and she tenderly placed her other hand on top of his. At that moment, the golden Triforce appeared on her hand, glowing bright. Link felt a tingling sensation on his hand as his own mark grew warmer, resonating with hers.

Zelda took a deep, shaky breath. "Listen to me, Link," she said, "I'm going to send you back to your original time. When you arrive there, you must leave the Master Sword in its pedestal."

He nodded, keeping his eyes fixed on the Triforce.

"And then…you must shut the Doors of Time behind you forever."

Link nodded once more. "Anything else?"

Suddenly a raindrop fell onto the gold triangles. He looked up at Zelda, and saw that it was a tear.

"...Try to forget."

Link's throat tightened. He felt water gather at the corners of his own eyes.

"I-" he choked out.

Zelda hushed him. She shut her eyes and clamped her mouth tight, suppressing a sob.

"Link…" she murmured. She gave his hand a little squeeze and forced a sad smile. "You did what you had to do. So now, you can go home."

A tear slid down Link's cheek. His arm fell limp at his side as Zelda slipped the ocarina out of his hand.

"Home...where you are supposed to be." she whispered softly, bringing the ocarina to her lips. "The way you were supposed to be…"

And then Zelda began to play the ocarina ever so softly and beautifully, caressing each note. She closed her eyes, and her troubled features became smooth again. In that moment nothing else mattered. There was only Zelda's song, and the feelings attached to it.

A sapphire beam shone down on Link from above, and a chronic hum began to ring in his ears. The humming intensified as radiant white light closed in on him from all sides, engulfing him.

"Zelda," he muttered.

Her eyes opened, but the next instant she was gone. Link was alone, drifting in blank nothingness, but he could still hear the ocarina soaring. On the edge of the melody, Zelda's last words managed to whisper their way through the endless white void to his ears,**  
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"Thank you, Link…Goodbye."

-o-o-o-

Link felt his feet make contact with a hard surface, and the waterfall of blue light encircling him began to part. Zelda's Lullaby still lingered in his ears as his surroundings emerged around him. Somewhere in his foggy mind he knew he must be in the Temple of Time, but he could only stare dazed at the puzzling sight unfolding before him, seeing but not quite comprehending.

The Master Sword, which had been in the sheath on his back moments ago, already rested in its pedestal, wiped clean of Ganon's blood. He caught a glimpse of his reflection on the blade. Big blue eyes. Chubby features. He was a child again. He flexed his fingers in front of his eyes and examined his hands. They were no longer raw and blistered; but soft and immature. Incapable of wielding the powerful weapon before him.

Something was off. Link had never returned to the past without placing the Master Sword in the pedestal with his own two hands. He looked up, but there was no trace of the blue beacon that had guided him back. Only the cold gray ceiling, towering twice as high as he last remembered. Navi floated in slow circles above his head, her wings catching in the amber light that filtered through the upper window of the sword chamber. He watched the fairy hypnotically as she spiraled higher and higher, drifting far away. She soared up into the light, a little glittering ball of blue against gold.

"Navi…" he breathed. But by the time her name escaped his lips she had disappeared out the window.

He stared up at the window, expecting Navi to reappear and bring news of a changed world. But she didn't come back. A minute passed. Still, she didn't return.

The sun was shining directly through the window, from the east, so it must have been close to dawn. Link shifted his gaze back to the Master Sword. The silver blade gleamed in slanted shafts of sunlight, just as it had when he had first laid his eyes upon it. For a fleeting moment he wondered what would happen if he pulled the sword out again, but he quickly shook the reckless thought away. _Zelda…_she had directed him to return the sword and close the doors of time. He had to go through with the final task she had entrusted to him.

Link turned his back on the Master Sword. At that moment, the morning bells reverberated through the cavernous temple halls, earsplitting at such close range. He strode toward the open Doors of Time without another glance back, as the glorious fanfare of bells announced the dawn of a new day.

* * *

><p>The doors creaked open and revealed the outside world. Tatl groaned and shielded her eyes against the sun. Her head throbbed and her vision blackened momentarily as her pupils adjusted to the bright light; a harsh, but welcome change of scenery after hours of aimlessly wandering around in the dark with a discombobulated deku scrub kid. The wooden boy squinted into the sun beside her, looking shabby and disheveled. His green clothes were in tatters, and scrapes and bruises he had accumulated in the labyrinths stood out sorely in broad daylight.<p>

"Wow. You look terrible," Tatl offered. The scrub ignored her. He turned and closed the loose-hanging doors behind them, which had neglected to completely shut on their own.

Tatl smirked. "Yeah, you close that door, Deku Boy! That mask salesman gives me the creeps! He was the-" a slight chill brushed against her skin, as if to remind her the salesman was…right on the other side of the door. "…handsomest…man I've seen in a _while!_" she saved. "Yeah! Heh. What a looker!"

The deku scrub gave her a blank look.

"Sorry. Just thinking aloud." She cast another nervous glance at the door and then leaned in close to him, lowering her voice to a whisper. "But _three days? _Even if we never sleep, that still leaves us with a measly seventy-two hours! Talk about demanding!"

Deku Boy, who may or may not have been listening, took several steps back from the door and craned his short neck upward. His sad eyes grew a little wider as he took in the massive, five-tiered tower they had exited moments earlier.

"Oh, yes. You must be wondering where we are. Guess I'll do the honors since I'm your only friend," said Tatl. She brushed her short platinum hair out of her face and faked a glitzy smile. "Welcome to Termina, Deku Boy! Currently, you are standing in the central plaza of Clock Town. So creatively named after...the big-ass clock in the middle of the town."

Deku Boy marveled at the giant clock face anchored halfway up the tower. The clock's hour marker pointed straight down, its reverse end fixed on a painted sun symbol. _6 o'clock AM, _Tatl noted. She turned from the colorful clock and glanced around the town square. In the center, a group of burly carpenters were hammering away at the foundations of a wooden structure, straining their muscles in the early morning heat.

"Hm? Looks like they're already getting ready for the carnival," she remarked.

The carpenters were hard at work building a festival tower, a staple tradition of the town's annual carnival. Once complete, the temporary structure would stand four stories tall and a bridge would extend from the upmost level to the Clock Tower, right over her and Deku Boy's heads. On either side of the bridge's designated path, merchants –human, deku, and goron alike- paced among vacant shopping stalls, staking out places to display their wares on carnival eve. Chattering women flitted about the plaza, hanging multicolored strands of festive flags and paper lanterns. A small pack of children chased a stray dog…a little too close to the unfinished festival tower. One of the carpenters near the tower's base dropped the load of planks he was carrying and drove the kids away from the construction sight, screaming like a fat man defending his bacon. The loud-mouthed children disappeared down an alley, the heavy-set carpenter in hot in pursuit. A few minutes later he returned to the square, wheezing and gasping for air. He wiped some sweat from his monobrow and cupped a hand around his mouth.

"Hey, Apprentice!" he shouted. "Don't just stand around lookin' at the sky all day!"

A scrawny man with shaggy red hair, a stick figure compared to his coworkers, stood on top of the short festival tower. The man was preoccupied with something in the sky. He pointed up and mouthed something inaudible. Tatl followed the direction of his shaking finger. She skipped a wing beat when she saw it.

Directly above, a dark planetoid object with sunken blood-red eyes swallowed up the zenith of the sky. It glared downward, gnashing yellow-stained teeth, crinkling its squashed nose up into a nasty scowl. Craters blotted its rocky surface like some kind of noxious skin disease.

"The—the moon?" Tatl stammered, not quite believing her eyes. "Are you seeing this, kid?" She looked to her deku companion, hoping she had gone insane. But he had noticed it too. He was staring up at it, awe-struck.

"It's…not supposed to look like that," Tatl said, peering up at it again. "This is really freaking me out."

The moon was a horrific sight. Yet, she couldn't look away. She was locked in its red gaze, paralyzed by some twisted feeling of morbid fascination. The face was completely still, but looked as if it could twitch alive at any second. Tatl imagined it happening, then quickly tore her eyes away from the monstrosity.

"We better get going to see the Great Fairy," she said, drifting back toward the clock tower, "I bet she'll know what's up with the moon."

Deku Boy made no move to follow, nor gave any sign that he was paying attention to what she was saying. He was transfixed on the moon.

"Hey. Scuzzy!" Tatl snapped, "did you even hear me?"

The scrub slowly turned his head in her direction.

She rolled her eyes. "Yes, _Deku Boy_, I'm talking to you. Don't just stand there!"

He didn't budge.

Tatl sighed and put her hands on her hips. "Look, you wanna find the Skull Kid, don't you?" she said. "The Great Fairy will know what he's up to, so we should go see her. _Now._ C'mon, follow me."

At last, he obliged. Tatl led him around the side of the Clock Tower and tried to ignore the moon, whose eyes she could still feel on her back. She shifted her thoughts to the fairy fountain's soothing waters and relaxed a little bit.

"The Great Fairy's shrine is in the park just north of here," she told Deku Boy as she rounded the back corner of the tower, "down this road…"

Suddenly she realized she no longer heard his footsteps squishing behind her. She turned around, only to discover she had been talking to herself for the past minute. She fluttered back around the clock tower and sure enough, there he was. He stood alongside the tower idly, staring at a statue of an owl with folded wings. It wasn't an especially large statue, but it towered over the short deku scrub, its sharp beak curved down at him almost menacingly. Tatl flew to Deku Boy's side and hovered by his shoulder impatiently, but he continued to examine the bronze owl, running a hand over the inscription on its base. When he failed to acknowledge her, she smacked him on the side of the head. He uttered a little squeak and reeled back in surprise.

"Is this what I have to deal with all day?" said Tatl. "Jeez, you can't even stay on task for one minute! You're worse than my little brother!"

Deku boy rubbed his head. Tatl imagined him glaring behind his sad mask, and only became aggravated further. She flew up to his nose and glared into his yellow-orange eyes.

"Listen up, kid." She jabbed a finger in his face. "The only reason I'm still hanging out with you is because we both happen to be looking for Skull Kid. Right now, I need to find my brother and I'm fed up with waiting around for you. So next time you fall behind I'm just gonna leave you in the dust. Seeing as all you can produce with that mouth is meaningless babble—_and_ you don't know where the hell you're going— you might want to stick close to me. Just saying."

"Mmph," he grunted in response.

Tatl snorted. "Yeah. That's what I thought. Glad we got that straightened out." With a little huff, she turned and continued down a side street behind the clock tower.

They traveled in silence into a residential block, past apartments with worn out welcome mats, under an overhead walkway. The smell of the fresh-brewed coffee wafted across the street from a small café. People passed by, their eyes glued to the pavement before their feet. Deku Boy weaved around them, his stubby legs barely able to keep up with Tatl's brisk pace. The space between them lengthened as he fell behind, but Tatl glanced back every so often to make sure he was still in sight.

Eventually the crowd of passerby began to thin, and the cobblestone road petered into a grassy pathway. The bustling noises from South Clock Town faded away and became replaced by twittering birdsong, much to Tatl's displeasure. She hung back and waited for Deku Boy to catch up, not wanting to venture across predatory land without a bodyguard. Most of the little birds that hung around in North weren't dangerous to fairies, but for some reason she suddenly didn't feel like taking her chances today. She took a look around the park. It was nearly vacant as usual, the soul inhabitants consisting of a small group of unsupervised children playing on the old playground in the far right corner. A pompous-looking kid wearing a red bandana sauntered around the edge the group, shooting at a balloon with a blowgun and missing horribly. Jim. Good thing they weren't going over there.

"This way," Tatl said once Deku Boy caught up. She motioned in the direction opposite of the playground, toward a rocky wall running along the west side of the park. "We're almost there. You see that hole in the wall back there, Deku Boy?"

He squinted at the rock formation and nodded.

"_Really _now. Interesting," she said, leading him across the overgrown lawn, "most non-fairy folk can't."

He turned his head toward her, seemingly interested.

"The Great Fairy's sort of an urban legend around here," she went on. "She has a bunch of fancy protective charms and enchantments around the fountain entrance. It's supposed to only show itself to those who are in dire need or something." Tatl cracked a mischievous smile. "So in other words, the only reason you're seeing it now is 'cause you're completely screwed."

The deku scrub looked away, annoyed.

Tatl laughed. "Oh, lighten up kid," she said. "Come to think of it, maybe the Great Fairy will be able to turn you back to normal. She's pretty powerful. And generous. And just between you and me, Skull Kid doesn't stand a chance against her, even with that weird mask of his."

Once they made it to the edge of the park, Deku Boy had some difficulty scrambling up the slope leading up to the Great Fairy's cave, but Tatl flew straight up to the entrance without bothering to wait for him. She tensed up when she reached it. Suddenly she felt something was very wrong. She and Tael had only visited the central fairy fountain on a few occasions, but from what she remembered the cave wasn't especially deep. So why was it so dark in there? She fluttered into the tunnel cautiously.

"Hello?" she ventured, "Great Fairy?"

Silence. Not even the sound of running water. She strained her eyes into the dark, but the only visible light was the yellow glow emitting from her own body.

"Great Fairy?" she called again.

"…Help…me..." answered a weak female voice. Tatl froze. More voices began to echo the first.

"Help Me."

"Help."

"Help."

Deku Boy's squishy footsteps picked up speed and he charged by Tatl. She flew after him, toward the distressed voices, toward the dim light bleeding through the blackness. Once inside the light, Tatl jarred to a halt.

It looked as if a bomb had gone off in the center of the fountain. Sharp fragments of iridescent marble columns were scattered about haphazardly, cracked and dirtied by rubble that had blown away from the walls. The waterfalls along the circumference of the cave had stopped flowing, reducing the once dazzling fountain to a little twinkling puddle. Its magical light dwindled, scarcely illuminating the cavern. The Great Fairy was nowhere to be found. In her place above the water was a writhing cloud of glowing golden-orange dust. Tatl squinted and saw that the cloud was actually made up of many small lights, each encasing an odd-looking gold sprite. More sprites flickered to life like fireflies around the edge of the fountain and began gathering in the cloud at the center until there were hundreds. It took Tatl a few seconds to register that the desperate cries for help were coming from the swarming creatures. She could just make out words among the amassing chaos of buzzing wings and overlapping voices.

"Help."

"Broken."

"Shattered."

A few amber sprites strayed from the chaos and buzzed around Deku Boy's head, coaxing him into the shallow water. Once the deku scrub stepped into their midst, the cloud of sprites started to flash and swarm together. They swirled around him faster and faster, sparkling in a united rhythm. Their fragmented words began to piece together like stained glass, until the spinning vortex of gold light spoke as one.

"Young one, hear my plea…"

"I have been broken."

"Broken and shattered to pieces by the masked child…"

"One among us is missing."

"Please, find the lost one…bring her here…"

"Only then can I be restored."

"Please…Help me."

"Help me."

"Help…me…"

The tornado of Great Fairy shards slowed and dispersed back into a disorganized cloud. Their cries began to die down as some of them drifted down to the water and fell limp in it like dead bugs. Deku Boy stood among them in the ankle-deep water for a long moment, and then he walked past Tatl and back out through the dark tunnel. She glided out after him.

Once outside, they stopped at the mouth of the cave, overlooking the whole park.

"Skull Kid did this," Tatl said simply. Her hands tightened into fists. She felt like punching someone. Anyone. Her first impulse was to give Deku Boy another beating, but she stopped short. He looked sad as always, but something fierce radiated from his orange eyes. Tatl felt a sudden spark of alliance with the boy over their newfound hate for Skull Kid. He was on her side. Skull Kid's mess wasn't his fault, and so she restrained herself and resorted to yelling.

"I don't get it! What's his problem? Why would he do something like this? Why?" Tatl took a deep breath and exhaled.

"How did he even get in there? It's not like anyone can just mosey on into the fairy fountain…"

Deku Boy waved at her.

"What?" she snapped.

He motioned to their surroundings, then to his eyes.

"What, kid? I have no idea what you're trying to say. "

He made the gesture again, pointing at his eyes, then at the Great Fairy's cave.

"…Oh," Tatl realized, "yeah, we need to look for that lost fairy. I mean, how far could it have gone?"

They began combing every square meter of the park, starting with the hills around the cave entrance. They scoured the rock wall, climbed trees, and checked inside bushes and trashcans, but the fairy shard didn't turn up. Tatl shrieked when Deku Boy scared a squirrel out of a trashcan and it nearly knocked her out of the air. After spouting off a stream of curse words, she ditched him and zoomed off to search the playground on the other side of the park. She needed some time alone to think anyway.

Tatl mulled over possibilities as she poked her head inside North Clock Town's postbox. The fountain would only reveal itself to those in dire need, but Skull Kid couldn't have been hurt if he was able to do so much damage. She left the postbox to check under the playground slide, avoiding the curious eyes of a little girl building castles in the sandbox nearby. There were other ways to get into the Great Fairy's cave. A fairy could have showed him the way in. Tatl had been prepared to do just that if Deku Boy hadn't been able to see the entrance. Then it clicked. Tael. Poor little innocent Tael. There was a good chance he let Skull Kid into the fountain, by naivety or by force. Either way he was in terrible danger, especially if he was still with Skull Kid. Tael was too curious, too trusting. She could only pray he was making cautious decisions on his own. She shut her eyes and tried to picture him, wherever he was, and willed her thoughts to reach his mind, to let him know she would find him soon...

Suddenly, a voice she recognized broke through her thoughts.

"Whaddya want, shrimp?"

She turned to see Jim, spunky leader of Clock Town's so-called "Bombers Secret Society of Justice." The little boy proudly sported a polo shirt with a bold number '1' stitched on the back, a puff of brown hair poking out from under his bright crimson bandana. He and Deku Boy were having a little faceoff in the middle of the park.

"I'm busy practicing with my blowgun!" Jim growled. He brandished the tubular weapon at Deku Boy, who was stubbornly standing his ground. "Don't mess with me or I'll send one of these bullets at your giant head next!"

The boys were about the same height, but deku scrubs, with their hollow bodies, are much lighter than humans. And despite their tough skin, more fragile. Tatl zipped over and put herself between the two boys.

"Knock it off, Jim. He isn't bothering you," she said.

Surprise registered on Jim's face for just a moment. "Tatl? Why are you sticking up for this new deku kid?"

"I'm not." Tatl crossed her arms. "I'm tired, I'm in a bad mood and I'm sick of running into you brats around every corner of town!"

"Well hey, we're just doing our jobs," Jim said, reloading his blowgun.

"Sure doesn't look like it."

Jim rolled his eyes. "Calm down, calm down. I wasn't _actually_ gonna shoot him. Just letting him know who's boss…"

Suddenly Jim's smug expression morphed to one of horror. He turned tail ran for the playground, where the other children were playing.

"What's this? Do my eyes deceive me?" said a voice from behind. Tatl spun around just in time to see a green blur smack into Deku Boy, almost tackling him to the ground. Deku Boy managed to regain his balance, but the assailant clung to him. At first glance Tatl thought it was some kid. Then she saw his face and realized it was not a kid, but a man. A very short, plump man covered from head to toe in a skin-tight green unitard, his prominent love handles spilling over a pair of garish red underpants.

"Green clothes…White fairy…!" the man squeaked, trembling with excitement. Deku Boy was stiff as a tree in the stranger's tight embrace, his arms clamped against his sides awkwardly. The pudgy green man squeezed him harder and gasped in his ear,

"Sir, could you, by chance be a…_forest fairy?_"

Tatl stared at the strange sight before her, dumbstruck. "And just what the hell are you supposed to be?" she demanded once she regained the ability to speak. Her eyes flicked to an ink brush and a sheet of parchment paper—an unfinished map—clasped against Deku Boy's back. "The Happy _Map _Salesman?"

"Eeheeheehee!" the odd little man laughed, finally releasing the scrub from his suffocating hug. "No no, little fairy, Tingle is my name!"

Tatl's lip twitched involuntarily.

"I think I am the same as you, sir. A forest fairy!" said Tingle. "Oh! Oh! I know! We should be friends!" He was addressing Deku Boy, but his goggling eyes were locked on Tatl, making her feel extremely uncomfortable. She circled to the other side of Deku Boy's head, and the eyes followed her. She flitted back to her original position and they followed her again. Tingle was mesmerized. His oversized nose flushed red.

"Lucky! Lucky!" he giggled, skipping back and forth between his toes. "You're so lucky to have a fairy. Alas, though I am already age thirty-five, no fairy has come to me yet…"

"Well, you're right about _one_ thing. He is pretty lucky to have me around," Tatl said, smirking. "But Tingle, look. I hate to be the one to break this to you, but you're not a forest fairy. You're—"

Tingle's lips puckered into a small frown.

"—You're…" She wanted so say 'some kind of deranged man-child' but for some reason, looking at that face, she just couldn't get the words out.

Tingle pushed his lower lip out into a pout. "My father always tells me that too," he said solemnly. "He says to grow up and act my age, but why? Whyyy?" he whined, "I tell you, Tingle is the very reincarnation of a fairy!"

Tatl rolled her eyes. "Well, whatever," she said, deeming the guy a hopeless case. Clearly, he had left the world of reality a long time ago.

Deku Boy, who had gotten over the initial shock of being tackle-hugged, pointed at the map in Tingle's hand.

"Mmp," he grunted.

"Oh? Yes! Maps!" Tingle piped up, his frown evaporating. "While waiting for a fairy of my own, I sell maps to help out my father. Cartography is Tingle's very special talent—_Mr. Fairy!"_ he squealed suddenly, throwing his hands in the air. Deku Boy winced.

"I would like to sell you a map for cheap as a sign of my friendship! Will you buy one of Tingle's maps?"

Deku Boy nodded and reached into his pocket. He took out a green rupee, a blue rupee, and a deku nut he must have found while snooping around the park. Tingle leaned over the deku scrub's hand, picking at a mole near the corner of his mouth.

"Hm…this will do," he said, taking the blue rupee. He hopped backward a couple feet.

"Now…Tingle!" he cried out, throwing a puff of rainbow confetti.

"Tingle!" another burst of confetti.

"Koo-loo lim-_pah!_" the man sprung into the air, twirled around in a rainbow-sprinkled whirlwind, and produced a scroll from…who knows where. He handed the scroll to Deku Boy, beaming.

"These are _Tingle's_ magic words!" he chanted in a sing-song voice as Deku Boy took the rolled-up map. He wagged a finger in the scrub's face. "Do not steal them!"

Tatl perched on Deku Boy's head and grabbed one of his leaf hairs. "Ok, you got your lousy map," she said between gritted teeth, "now let's-_go!_" she yanked the hair sideways and steered him away from Tingle. Deku Boy made a disgruntled noise and tried to shake her off, but she held on tight.

"Thank you so much, Mr. Fairy!" Tingle called after them, waving his ink brush in the air.

"Keeping walking…_keep walking…_" Tatl grumbled, urging the scrub on toward the nearest park exit. "What a freak," she scoffed loudly, not really caring if Tingle overheard her. She flung down her steering leaf. "At least we got a cheap map out of it."

Deku Boy teetered to a stop. He peeled a red balloon-shaped seal off the map and began unrolling it. Tatl leaned over his bangs to take a peek. It was an overhead map of Clock Town, rendered in eye-popping color and finite accuracy—aside from the little flowers, rainbows, and smiling fairies Tingle had doodled all over the place. Deku Boy turned it over and they saw the reverse side had a wide view that mapped out the town's surrounding area, showing its location smack in the middle of Termina Field.

"Not too bad for five rupees," Tatl said. She yawned and lay down on Deku Boy's mess of greenish-yellow leaf hair, resting her chin upon laced hands.

"Well Deku Boy, I looked all over that playground but I got nothing." She arched her back and stretched out her wings. "You get any leads on the lost fairy?"

Deku Boy pointed to their location on the map and traced his wooden finger from North to South Clock Town.

"You think we should go back to South next?"

He nodded beneath her in confirmation.

"Hm." She shrugged indifferently, examining her fingernails. "Sure, why not?"

She flopped down on her makeshift bed, burying her face in dry leaves. Deku Boy titled his head upward.

"What? I'm _tired,_" she complained. "I think I deserve a break after all this drama."

Deku Boy turned his attention back to the map. After about a minute of not moving anywhere, Tatl gave him a light bop on the head.

"Well, go on," she said, "you can look at that and walk at the same time, can't you?"

If Deku Boy was annoyed with her, he didn't make a show of it. He started back the way they came, burying his snout in his new map.

"Don't think you don't need me anymore just because you got a swanky new map," Tatl said, yawning again. "You wouldn't last a day here without me watching your back."

She rolled onto her side and watched a fluffy cloud drift across the azure sky. She started to close her eyes. Then she saw the moon again. She sat up and peered over her shoulder at Tingle, glaring at him through her transparent wing. He was still in the same spot, spinning in circles like a fool. _He's creepy all right,_ Tatl thought, _b__ut not in the same way as the mask salesman._ Tingle was harmless, she decided. Creepy and weird, but harmless. The mask salesman though…there was something off about him. Something she couldn't quite place. The back of the clock tower grew loomed ahead as Deku Boy treaded further South. Tatl had always thought it looked a little out of place in the middle of the main plaza, its weathered ashen bricks so unlike the surrounding ivory storefronts and cottages, or the patterned clay walls that formed a protective ring around the town. She could almost feel the mask salesman's squinting eyes haunting her from inside the dark tower. Those eyes…you could never be absolutely sure if they were watching you or not. The fact that she had been present when Skull Kid robbed the man wasn't exactly comforting either. She wondered if the salesman had noticed her and Tael then…if he harbored a grudge against her for so callously going along with Skull Kid's prank. For standing by…doing nothing.

"Let's hurry," said Tatl, hopping out of Deku Boy's hair. He jerked his head up and began scanning their surroundings frantically.

"Uh…no," she said, "no danger."

He looked at her, tilting his head in confusion.

"I just feel more comfortable hiding in the crowds," she half-lied.

South Clock Town was more crowded now that the day had gotten swinging. As soon as Tatl and Deku Boy made it down to the square, they spotted something of interest: a large yellow deku flower sprouting at the end of a long row of carnival shopping stalls. It had twice as many petals as any of the flowers they had found beneath the clock tower.

When they got within a few feet of the golden blossom, a head popped out of its center. A middle-aged deku scrub peered out at them, an orange and yellow striped cap atop his bushy head.

"What do you think you're doing?" he asked, regarding Deku Boy with his beady orange eyes. Deku Boy just blinked at the older scrub in surprise, seeming a little taken aback.

"This is my private property," the older scrub told Deku Boy curtly. He ducked back into the bulky yellow flower.

Undiscouraged, Deku Boy continued to examine the flower with curiosity. A few seconds later, the flower's occupant sprung completely outside, displaying his full height. He was on the tall side for his species, with long, skinny limbs and a plump onion-shaped body.

"It seems you don't understand. Allow me to explain," the scrub said, tucking a few stray leaves beneath his hat. "This flower is my property, meaning no scrub has license to use it except me. Therefore, _you_ are not entitled to use it. So please, stop touching it. Stop gawking at it. And don't even think about trying anything while I'm not around." He waved his arms in a dismissive gesture. "Now please, run along. I'm not open for business just yet."

And with that, he burrowed back into the flower. Tatl shrugged and shook her head in false disappointment. "Oh well. It's not like you really need his stupid flower anyway. You'd probably crash and give yourself a concussion," she sneered. "If you want an aerial view, just ask me. Oh right, you can't talk. Silly me, I forgot…"

She flew up high to get a full view of the main square. The crowd was thick; it would be difficult to find a tiny sprite among them this time of day. Tatl hoped it hadn't wandered to this section of town. If so, then it had probably been crushed under someone's foot by now. Carpenters struggled to direct traffic around and away from the festival tower construction zone, sweating profusely. A good number of people were moving in the same direction, lugging suitcases, clutching family members; some throwing apprehensive glances up at the sky. Tatl felt her chest tighten with apprehension when she saw where they were headed. They were funneling out the south gate, fleeing town.

The realization unnerved her slightly. She gave up searching and started to fly back down, but then something below caught her attention. A little gray terrier dog was stalking through the shopping stands, barking and growling. It was fixed on something straight in front of it. Suddenly, a vicious snarl erupted from its lips and it charged…right at Deku Boy.

"Deku Boy, _run!_" Tatl shouted, but he was already tearing across the square. He dodged around peoples' legs at knee height as he fled, the dog on his tail. Tatl sped ahead of them. She darted above the heads of the thick crowd, shouting.

"Everyone look out! Midget coming through! Clear a path! _Midget alert!_" It wasn't much, but it was the least she could do to help him out.

Deku Boy narrowly avoided careening into a group of people carrying grocery bags, then ran under a long wooden beam being lugged by two carpenters. They hollered warnings after him as he broke away from the dense part of the crowd in a burst of speed. But the dog was still in hot pursuit, snapping at his heels. Tatl looked ahead of the scrub and saw that he was on a collision course with the postman. Judging by the shift in the Postman's expression, he realized this too, a second too late. The man bit his lower lip and squeezed his eyes shut, bracing for the impact.

"Yaa_aaaahhhhhh!_" he screamed.

Deku Boy veered at the last moment and missed the postman, but the dog didn't. It crashed right into the skinny man and knocked him clear off his feet, causing his mailbag to explode open in the process. The postman gripped the snapping dog inches from his face, his red hat askew, and gaped in horror at the mess of letters fanning out over the pavement.

"_I...I'm going to be late!_" he wailed miserably. The dog wriggled in his hands, yipping at the fleeing deku scrub. Deku Boy was still on the move, making a beeline for the south gate. When he was almost nearly there, the armored gate guard on duty spotted him coming. He spread his arms and dropped into a low crouch to block his way.

"Whoa there, deku scrub!" The guard caught the little boy and scooped him into his arms. Deku Boy collapsed against his chest, emitting a hoarse wheezing sound from his snout as he tried to catch his breath. The guard began reciting what sounded like a carefully rehearsed lecture. "It is very dangerous outside the town walls so I cannot allow a child like you to leave unaccompanied. You must rendezvous with your parents before departing for the swamp—wait…you must be from that Deku Elementary class that just passed through here!" he assumed. "Are you lost, boy?"

Deku Boy squirmed, trying to break free, but it was all in vain.

The guard laughed. "Aw, you look so upset! Don't worry, they didn't get far. I'll take you to them!" he declared enthusiastically, as if this were the most exciting thing that had ever happened to him on the job. It probably was. The guard left his post and began jogging down the main loop of town, carrying Deku Boy. Tatl couldn't help but snigger at the pathetic sight of him cradled in the guard's arms. She zipped over to him and discreetly slipped inside his cap, resting just inside the brim so she could see outside.

She heard the Deku Elementary scrubs before she saw them. A chorus of high, squeaky voices. She counted about a dozen deku kids traveling double file, an adult deku positioned at the front and back. Without warning, Deku Boy started whipping his head around. She grabbed one of his hairs to steady herself, wondering what was making him freak out, then she surmised he must be looking for her.

"I'm in here, idiot!" she yelled. Deku Boy had a little spasm, confirming her thoughts.

The guard called out to the chaperone tailing the group, a stout male deku with a beard made of yellow leaves. Probably someone's parent. When the guard caught up with him, he put Deku Boy down on the ground and began explaining the situation. The chaperone took Deku Boy by the shoulders and steered him into line without so much as bothering to check a class roster.

Tatl groaned. "You have got to be kidding me!" she spat into Deku Boy's ear. "Just look at this mess you've gotten yourself into! We're never going to find that lost fairy like this."

"Thanks," the deku chaperone told the guard flatly.

The guard grinned. "You are very welcome! Glad I could be of service!" he said, and then he ran off to get back to his post.

The chaperone nudged Deku Boy forward. "Here, you can be Barry's travel buddy," he said in a bored tone. "Just stay in line this time, kid. I don't want your parents knocking on my door when I get home."

Tatl shimmied around to the other side of Deku Boy's head to get a look at this "Barry". He was a wide-eyed kid wearing a standard deku hat made of strung-together palm leaves.

"Who are _you?_" Barry asked, giving Deku Boy a skeptical look. Deku Boy, of course, said nothing. But that didn't faze Barry. He launched into conversation almost immediately.

"Mrs. Ivene said _I_ could be the chaperone. But then she went and got one! What's up with that, huh?" he said. "I could do a way better job than this guy. I'm the teacher's favorite student in the class, you know. I have more than ten gold nuts."

Deku Boy was currently concentrating on dragging his clumsy feet up some steps. Tatl got the impression he wasn't paying attention to a word his new "travel buddy" was saying, and she didn't blame him. Normally she would have a wise crack or two in line for this little brown-noser, but she just wasn't in the mood. She settled down into soft green fabric of Deku Boy's hat, half-listening to Barry yammer about his good grades. His high, whistle-like voice was hard to ignore.

They made it to the top of the steps and moved into the eastern district of town. The east square, smaller than the one in South, was also decked out in colorful flags for the carnival. A pair of jugglers entertained a small crowd near the center.

"This is East Clock Town," Tatl told Deku Boy, trying to speak over Barry. "Down in the square we have a bunch of arcades and bars and what not. The upper half is where all the rich important people live. That's pretty much all you need to know."

Deku Boy was surveying his new surroundings, twisting his head halfway around and back. Tatl felt him tense up.

"Forget it, kid," she whispered, sensing his intentions, "that adult deku has his eye on you. We'll just have to lay low and wait for a good escape window."

Tatl stuck her head outside to get a better view. The wide open square was definitely a bad place for him to make a run for it, especially when they were right under the chaperone's nose.

"At least check around for that fairy while you're walking. Then this won't be a total waste of time," she said.

They scanned street corners and flashy shop windows for a speck of gold-orange as they traveled. Meanwhile, Barry continued to talk to himself. The more he rambled, the more his annoying airy voice grated on Tatl's nerves.

"Shut up!" she growled under her breath. "Shut up, Shut up! I wish he would just _shut up!_" She covered her ears, trying to drown him out.

Suddenly Barry fell silent. "Hey," he said, jabbing Deku Boy on the shoulder, "don't you talk?"

Deku Boy gave him a sideways glance.

"You know," Barry said, staring at him closely, "you kind of look like someone I know. Hey Prim!" He prodded the deku girl walking in front of him, but she continued to chat with her friend.

"Prim! Prim! Prim!" he yelled repeatedly when she ignored him. He jabbed her in the back again, harder this time.

"Whaaat?" Prim whipped her head around, her flowery pink and yellow pigtails bouncing.

"Doesn't he look kind of like Aster?" Barry asked, pointing to Deku Boy.

Prim narrowed her eyes. "Who?"

"You know…Aster. Mushroom kid."

Recognition flashed across the deku girl's face. "Oh…him. Haven't seen him around in a long time," she said, looking Deku Boy up and down. Her travel buddy turned around and joined in the staring fest. Deku Boy shifted his gaze to the ground, no doubt uncomfortable with all these little orange eyes scrutinizing him.

"I guess he does look like him a little bit," Prim said, adjusting one of the flowers on her head. "Maybe if he didn't have the hat." She turned back around to resume her conversation with her friend. Barry continued to stare at Deku Boy, a mischievous glint appeared in his eye. Tatl licked her lips. _Yeah…just try it, Barry._

Barry's hand flew straight for the hat, at the pocket where Tatl was hidden. She latched onto a finger and bit down hard.

"_Ow!" _Barry yelped. He drew back and gaped at the tiny bite marks on his index finger. Tatl flashed him a devilish grin when his eyes found her, relishing her handiwork. She didn't think she'd actually puncture his tough deku skin. Barry just blinked at her, dumbfounded. Tatl peered around Deku Boy's cheek to see his reaction, but he had been oblivious to the entire exchange. He was still staring down at his feet, lost in his own world. Tatl sighed, rolling her eyes.

"We have arrived!" The teacher chimed from up ahead.

Tatl looked up to see a gold plate engraved with the words, "Mayor's Residence" nailed high above the little deku scrubs' heads. They were lined up in front of the Town Hall. The teacher opened the door and the class began filing in.

**-o-o-o-o-o-**

**A/N: **I hope no one bailed when Tingle showed up.

Well, this chapter gave a pretty decent preview of how this arc is going to work. Basically, my idea is to juxtapose Tatl's (someone who has no clue who or what Link is) point of view in the present with Link's post OOT flashbacks. So...I guess it's kind of experiment? If it works, then great! If it's not working out, well, I guess that sucks. But if that's the case, at least it won't last forever. Every arc following this one will have Link as the focal character.

So, thoughts? I'll say it once and I'll never say it again...please leave some feedback if you have time! I accept constructive criticism gracefully, and I appreciate all feedback, even if it's just a one liner to let me know you exist. Or a flame so I can laugh at it. But really, if there's something confusing about my writing style, or the way I set up the story, I want to know so I can improve for the future. I'd rather know the horrible truth than be misled into thinking I'm doing a good job.


	4. Inevitable

**-o-o-o-o-o-**

~MASQUERADE~

**Chapter 2: Inevitable**

**-o-o-o-o-o-**

Tatl had passed by the town hall more times than she could count, but this was the first time she had actually gone inside. She fluttered out from the confines of Deku Boy's hat to take a look around. The Deku Elementary kids skittered across the pristine, orange tiled floor and jumped on and off luxurious olive green plush sofas that lined the walls, their shrill voices amplified inside the spacious lobby. Their stoic chaperone watched them from a corner wearily, pretending to examine a lamp with an intricate guardian lion sculpted into its base. He had given up, that was for sure. The class teacher, Mrs. Ivene, was waiting in a short line at the reception desk up ahead. Once the noise got to be too much, she turned around and started to shush her chattering students.

"Prim!" Barry yelled.

"What?" Prim said, stomping her foot.

"Stop talking!"

"You're not the teacher, Barry!"

Barry pressed a finger to his snout. "Shush!"

"You shush!" Prim hissed back.

Tatl groaned in Deku Boy's ear. "I can't wait to be rid of these little suckers…"

"Now children, simmer down," said Mrs. Ivene, pushing a pair of thick emerald-encrusted glasses up the wide bridge of her nose. "While we're waiting to go in, let's review. Who knows what kind of government Clock Town has?"

Tatl had to dive out of the way to avoid Barry's hand, which shot up instantly. A few other tentative hands creeped up around the group.

"Always the same hands…" Mrs. Ivene sighed. "Willow, what do you think?" she said, calling on a girl with tangled vines for hair who didn't look like she had been paying attention.

Willow jumped at the sound of her name. "Uh…what was the question?" she asked tentatively.

"What kind of government does Clock Town have?" Mrs. Ivene repeated.

"Um…I don't know."

"At least take a guess," the bespectacled teacher said, "I'll give you a hint. It begins with a 'D'. "

"Umm," Willow scratched her nose. "D-Dictatorship?"

Mrs. Ivene sighed and shook her head, looking quite disappointed. "No, but it was a nice try." She glanced around at the other students. Only one hand was still up.

"...Barry?"

"Clock Town's government is a democracy!" he answered proudly, earning a couple dirty looks from surrounding deku kids.

"That's correct! Very good, Barry," Mrs. Ivene said, clapping her hands together. "Now, everyone please keep it down."

She turned back around to check in with the secretary, a young woman with short, mint colored hair and skin so tanned it practically looked orange. The top of the deku teacher's head just barely surpassed the height of the reception desk; the secretary had to lean forward to speak with her.

"Oh, the third grade group from Deku Elementary? You're early," the green-haired secretary said, halfheartedly tugging down her tight white top. "The drawing room is to your right, the mayor's council room is through the door to the left. It sounds like they're having some kind of meeting in there. I think." She shrugged. "But you should be fine going in."

The teacher squeaked a quick thank you, rounded up the class, and led them to the council room door. Tatl hovered close to Deku Boy, so as not to lose him among the shuffling deku kids.

Miss Ivene quieted them once more. "They're having a meeting. That means keep quiet!" she said. "I don't want to hear a single peep out of any of you while we're in there."

Once her students were silent, she opened the door to the council room and the muffled voices on the other side came into focus. There was definitely a debate crackling inside. As soon as Tatl and Deku Boy passed through the door, they were hit with a wall of what Tatl referred to as, "bad man smell". It was immediately apparent that the stench was emanating from the group of muscular, perspiration-drenched carpenters gathered on the left side of the room. Tatl recognized them as some of the men who had been building the festival tower in South Clock Town earlier that morning. An abrasive older carpenter with thinning white hair and a bristly mustache seemed to be doing most of the talking. He was going head to head with the captain of the guard, who stood out with his royal purple chainmail and twin lions emblazoned on his steel breastplate. The captain, a tall, articulate man in his thirties, was flanked by two lower ranking soldiers; they stood at attention, their eyes shadowed under their helmets.

Between the two clashing groups sat the unmistakable mayor of Clock Town. He reminded Tatl of a goat, with his tiny beard and electric indigo hair that flared out the sides of his head like two curved horns. He sat hunched in his chair with his hands spread across his desk, eyelids drooping with exhaustion.

"'Scuse me. Coming through. Bomber here," said a young voice from behind. A little boy wearing a blue bandana –Bomber Number Four –was shoving his way through the deku scrubs. He strutted up to the Mayor and slapped an envelope down on his desk. The Mayor blinked at it in confusion.

"Mr. Mayor," the blue Bomber tipped his cap, "top-secret intel from Professor Shikashi."

Recognition seemed to surface in the mayor's unfocused eyes. "…Oh! Yes, of course. We've been expecting this," he said, taking the envelope in his hands and tearing it open. The Bomber gave him a little salute and quickly exited the crowded office.

Tatl shifted her focus to the escalating verbal battle in the center of the room, where the head guard and carpenter were starting to raise their voices over the commotion.

"Most of the townsfolk have already taken shelter without waiting for the Mayor's orders," said the captain of the guard. "The only ones left are public servants— "

"Are you blind, Viscen?" the senior carpenter snapped, a vein throbbing on his sweaty temple. "Just take a look outside! There are plenty of people milling about the streets!"

Viscen gritted his teeth. "Blind? You're calling _me_ blind? It seems that giant chunk of rock above us hasn't caught your eye!"

_Giant chunk of rock...the moon,_ Tatl realized. _They're talking about the moon_.

"Oh…my..." Mrs. Ivene squeaked apprehensively. "It appears we accidentally went into the wrong room, children! Er…shall we tour the rest of the facility?"

The deku kids just stared at her, their orange eyes dull.

"Or we can go out for milkshakes!" she suggested. "My treat!"

The teacher's second proposal was met with several excited cheers. She flung the door open and began corralling the kids out of the council room. Tatl looked around for Deku Boy, but didn't see him anywhere. She had gotten caught up in the meeting and had lost track of him.

"Deku boy?" she called out, "Deku boy, where are you?"

A few other little deku boys swiveled their heads in her direction before they were quickly shooed out of the room. Tatl scanned the remaining heads, but no pointy green hat stuck out among them.

"Where are you, you stupid Deku Boy? –Not_ you!_" she growled at Barry.

Then it occurred to her that maybe he had already left. Tatl darted for the door just as the last deku kid was slipping out of the room, but it slammed shut in her face. She was trapped.

"Hey!" Tatl pounded on the door. "Come back! Don't leave me in here. _It freaking smells!_"

At that moment, she heard a soft gargle from her left. She turned to see two gloomy orange eyes watching her from within the potted plant in the corner of the room. She breathed a sigh of relief and fluttered over to the little office tree. Deku Boy was quiet and spacey, but he had a way of swiftly and silently gathering information about his environment. Perhaps he was smarter than she had given him credit for...but of course, she'd never admit that.

"For a second I thought you trapped me in this stuffy office!" she whispered, finding a comfortable perch on a branch of the tree. "Let's hide here a while and put some distance between us and those deku kids. I want to hear more of this meeting anyway." She turned her attention back to the debate, where Captain Viscen was now speaking.

"As I was saying earlier, before I was so _rudely_ interrupted," he began, "the only people left are public servants and your stubborn committee members."

"I don't care who's still here—"

"Mutoh. Let me finish," Viscen snapped.

Mutoh crossed his arms and glared at Viscen, like a tiger ready to pounce on every one of the younger man's words. Viscen lifted his head and began to address the entire room.

"It seems for every person who arrives in town expecting a carnival, three people leave!"

The babble in the room died down in his commanding presence. The captain moved forward, taking a moment to pause on each person's face as he spoke.

"Civilians are emptying out the town gates in droves! Why is this?" He let the question resonate for effect. "At this time every year, we are always overrun by tourists! So why is the town so empty?!"

Mutoh's face was beat red. He looked as if he could have an angry outburst at any moment. "It's all a hoax, I tell ya," he grumbled, "one giant hoax."

Viscen raised a hand in an attempt to diffuse the tension. "Mutoh, I understand the position you're in," he said in a very measured tone. "Clearly, it's your job to ensure the carnival's operation, but that's if people are here for it."

"People will be here for it!" Mutoh roared. "And as long as there are people in this town, we are not backing out on the carnival!" Mutoh's declaration spurred an outcry of support from his backing carpenters.

"Are you serious Mutoh? You carpenters need to come to your senses! You can't drag the merchants and soldiers into this!" Viscen cried over the hoots and hollers. He turned to the Mayor. "Mr. Mayor, please order those who remain to evacuate! Surely, your son has left town. I suggest we make haste and follow his example!"

Mayor Dotour scratched his blue head, his eyes glossing over the letter in his hands for the third time. "Ahh…hmm. Well..."

"You cowards! You actually believe the moon will fall?" Mutoh scoffed, a hint of sardonic laughter in his voice. "Sure, it's looked different lately, but to suggest it will actually fall to the earth and crush Clock Town? That's preposterous! The confused townsfolk simply caused a panic by believing this ridiculous, groundless theory."

"This is no groundless theory! The astronomer outside town can attest to that," Viscen retaliated, "He has been sending in regular status reports on the moon. An update just came in just now. Will you read it aloud, Mr. Mayor?"

"Er…yes. Let's see here," the Mayor said. He smoothed out the letter in his hands and cleared his throat. Everyone in the room quieted down to hear the report.

"This is dated today. 7:24 AM this morning," he began. "It has been a little over four days since I first observed an abnormality in the moon's orbit. Since then, the moon has, without a doubt, been drawing closer to the earth. After careful observation, I have concluded that this phenomenon is not natural, and I suspect the moon is being pulled out of orbit by some unidentified force. The nature of this hypothetical force is yet to be determined, but one thing is certain: if the Moon continues to plunge toward Earth at the current rate, collision is inevitable."

"I estimate it will touch down in an approximate seventy hours, on the morning of the Carnival of Time. I dread what this could mean for Clock Town, and for Termina as a whole, and have even gone so far as to consider that the this turn of events could yield apocalyptic consequences-"

"So there you have it," Viscen cut in. "A professional opinion from a credible source."

Mutoh shook his balding head. "I never believe in that apocalypse baloney. Seems like some loon predicts the end of the world every other year, and look Viscen!" He waved his arms in the air. "We're still here! None of those rumors—those _lies—_were true, so why should this one be taken any more seriously?"

"Because Professor Shikashi is _not_ a lunatic! He is an expert in his field, so we should heed his warning and get the evacuation order out as soon as possible!"

"And force people out of their homes? Outside the safety of the town walls? You soldiers should know better than anyone that _outside_ town is where the danger is! I'll tell you what I think." Mutoh jabbed an accusing finger at the soldiers. "You and your men couldn't prevent the panic from spreading, so now you're all just going along with this Moonfall hoopla to make yourselves look better!"

Viscen pounded his spear against the floor. "How dare you make such a crass accusation! The Clock Town Guard has done nothing but put the safety of the civilians first!"

"If the soldiers wish to run, then run, Viscen!" Mutoh jeered. "We councilmen will stick to tradition. This carnival will be a success!" He crossed his arms and leaned forward, the corners of his mustache curling up into a sneer. "And I will laugh in your face when you drag your sorry asses back to town three days from now."

Viscen's mouth opened and closed. He gaped at the snide carpenter, appalled.

Mutoh strode into the center of the room, spreading his arms. "You people want answers?" he said, looking daggers around the office, as if daring anyone to challenge him. "The answer is that the carnival should not be canceled! Isn't that right, Mr. Mayor?"

All heads in the room turned to Mayor Dotour.

"Mmm…Hmm…?" He mumbled, nuzzling his lips around a cup of coffee.

"I've never heard of a defense unit abandoning its town!" Mutoh chided. "Madame Aroma would surely say the same thing, wouldn't she, Mayor Dotour?"

The Mayor firmly set his cup down on his desk and let out a heaving sigh. "Please, let's not bring my wife into this."

"Don't listen to him, Mayor," said Viscen. "All must take refuge!"

"No, Mayor! On with the Carnival!" Mutoh bellowed.

"On with the carnival! On with the carnival!" The other carpenters chanted.

And then the soldiers lost their composure and lashed out at the carpenters. The two opposing sides took verbal shots at each other until the argument snowballed into a full-blown uproar. Mayor Dotour frowned sheepishly and sunk into his chair, as if he were caught in the middle of a violent shoot-out.

A rustle of leaves distracted Tatl from the raging meeting. Deku Boy was climbing out of the potted tree.

"Hm? Heard enough?" she asked.

He scrambled free from their hiding spot and nodded.

"Me too. Let's get out of here."

Deku Boy sprung up to open the door and they slipped out of the council room, unnoticed.

"Sounds pretty serious…" Tatl said as they made their way across the lobby, "can you believe it, kid? They're talking end of the world in there!"

Deku Boy seemed deep in thought. He glared at the floor as he walked, surely contemplating what they just overheard at the meeting. Suddenly he bumped into a pair of knobby white legs, and the next moment they found themselves staring up into the sour, mustached face of a man who looked like he had walked straight out of a circus tent. He wore a fluffy white collar and a ruby sequin vest that sparkled in the harsh indoor light of the lobby.

"I'm angry! Don't speak to me!" the man barked at Deku Boy. He spun around and stormed off toward the exit, muttering under his breath.

"Yeesh," said Tatl. "What crawled up his tights and died?"

Deku Boy gazed after the grumpy man, stunned. He looked as if he had just seen an apparition, sort of like he had when the Happy Mask Salesman snuck up behind them.

"What's wrong?" Tatl asked. His eyes were wide with…shock? Fear? She couldn't quite tell. His sulky expression was as unreadable as ever.

"Hey!" she buzzed her wings in front of his eyes. He blinked several times, successfully triggered back to reality.

"It wasn't that bad," she told him. "He's just some grumpy loser. Get over it."

"Oh dear, are you a student of Deku Elementary?"

A plump middle-aged woman wearing a yellow gown much too tight for her round frame stood in the drawing room doorway on the opposite side of the lobby. She had an artificial look about her, with her outlandish red updo and heavily made up face.

"Where's your teacher?" the fat woman asked.

Deku boy blinked at her a moment and shrugged.

She pursed her lips. "Your teacher's not here? Well, then _I_ don't know what to with you." She turned to the mint-haired secretary, who was reading a magazine behind the reception desk. "Hon, will you take him to find his teacher? I can't deal with all this right now…" she muttered, disappearing back into the drawing room.

"Hon" peered over her magazine and looked Deku Boy over. After a long, awkward moment she let out a frustrated breath, dropped the magazine on her desk, and slowly rose out of her chair.

Tatl darted in front of her. "You don't have to," she said quickly.

Hon gave her an incredulous look.

"Really. You don't." She zipped back to Deku Boy and petted him on the head, grinning. "I got this."

The secretary glowered at them another second, then plopped back down in her chair and started flipping through her magazine again. Tatl celebrated inwardly as they left the Mayor's Residence, for once glad to come across someone who just plain didn't give a damn.

"Did you see that secretary's fake tan? What a floozy. I mean, c'mon. No one's _that_ tan in spring," Tatl said once the door clicked shut behind them. Taking jabs at people behind their backs was a good stress reliever. Deku Boy just slowly shook his head in response.

To their relief, the Deku Elementary class was nowhere in sight. Tatl checked the Clock Tower, which rose high over East's rooftops. The clock's great crimson hour needle was pointing straight up.

"Look at that, Deku Boy, it's almost noon! Six hours gone by and we've made next to no progress," she sighed. She cast her eyes beyond the tower, up at the grimacing moon. Perhaps she was paranoid, but had it really drawn closer in such a short amount of time?

A buzz of hushed voices drew her attention back to Earth. Three Bomber boys were hanging out by a narrow alleyway near the east side of the town hall, whispering amongst themselves: Number Four from earlier; Number Five, nearly identical in his matching uniform, but with a pictograph hanging around his neck; and a shrimpy younger one wearing a yellow head scarf. Tatl pricked up her ears to eavesdrop on their conversation. She caught the words, "Jim", and "hideout."

Suddenly, Number Four shushed the other two and hissed, "He's looking at us!" His eyes flicked to Deku Boy and back. The little yellow bomber stared at the deku scrub, horrified. Number Five twisted his neck around and joined in the staring fest.

"What are you guys doing? You're supposed to act natural!" Four said.

The Bombers huddled closer together and turned their backs to them. Five risked another peek over his shoulder. Four promptly smacked him.

"I just got an idea," Tatl whispered, smirking. "C'mon." She motioned for Deku Boy to follow her and they approached the trio of Bombers. "Just stick by me and look miserable."

They went right on over and planted themselves next to the Bombers. The trio refused to acknowledge them, trying to speak as softly as possible. But with each passing minute, it got harder for the boys to ignore them. Number Five was the first to give in.

"What?!" he snapped, spinning around. His expression became confused when Deku Boy didn't respond.

"Nothing to see here," Four spoke up.

Tatl shot forward to make to make herself seen. "Really, now? There must be something here...or you wouldn't have bothered to tell us otherwise."

Four and Five exchanged a worried glance.

"Nope. Nothing here," Four said. "Go away."

The little yellow Bomber had jumped when Tatl spoke. He frantically looked around for the source of her voice, then his eyes locked on her and went wide.

"Waaahhh! Mosquito!" he cried. He started to retreat down the alley, but Four grabbed him by the shoulders before he could run off.

"Mosquito? Now that's just insulting," Tatl griped.

"That's not a bug! It's just Tatl," said Four. "She's a fairy."

The yellow Bomber stopped squirming and calmed down. "Oh." He blinked up at her, the terror evaporating from his big blue eyes. "Hi Tatl," he said with a shy wave.

Number Four let go of him. "Jeez. If you're this skittish over a little fairy how are you gonna guard the—" He shut his mouth and went silent.

Meanwhile, Number Five was studying Deku Boy with uninhibited curiosity.

"What's with you?" he blurted out. "You're wearing a weird hat for a deku! Why are you so sad? Did you come to town to play? I bet nobody will play with you, right? Why is Tatl with you?"

"Enough with all the questions already!" Tatl barked. "The little deku kid can't talk. He's really sick! He's got uh...a really bad throat infection or something."

The little yellow bomber recoiled backward. "Ahh! Germs! _Germs!_"

Tatl rolled her eyes and lowered her hands in a placating gesture. "Calm down, just calm down. Only deku scrubs can get it."

"Oh," the smallest bomber sighed. "That's good."

Tatl put her hands on her hips. "So. What _are_ you brats doing loitering around this little alleyway?" she asked, making a point to glare at each of them suspiciously. She shifted slightly to take a peek down the alley. Number Four moved to block her line of sight.

Tatl arched an eyebrow. "Aren't you supposed to be running around helping people?"

All three bombers immediately looked relieved.

"Y-yes!" said Number Four. "Well, we keep asking around, but the adults are all busy getting ready for the carnival!"

"No one wants our help, so we're bored out of our minds!" Number Five added.

"Well, I just found a job for you kids," Tatl said, giving Deku Boy a discreet wink.

Number Four whipped out a yellow notebook with a little red bomb stamp on the cover, pencil poised at the ready, and peered up at her eagerly.

Tatl smirked. She had them right where she wanted them. "You guys remember the Skull Kid, right?"

"Of course we do!" said Five, "Skull Kid broke our rules and he's been doing all sorts of bad things lately!"

"Yeah!" said Four, scribbling vigorously in his notebook. "He whacked my pet cuckoo with a book, he stole the jugglers' balls the other day, and then there was this scarecrow—"

"Yeah, yeah, I know," Tatl cut him off. "Anyway, Skull Kid mugged Deku Boy here last night," she said, conveniently leaving out the fact that she had assisted in the mugging. She ignored the peeved side-glance Deku Boy threw in her direction. "Stole all his stuff right off him! So now we're running all over the place looking for him. But it's such a big town! And we're so tired!" she whined dramatically. "So we were wondering…isn't there anyone around here who has the slightest urge to help out a _poor_ little girl and her adorable little deku scrub friend?"

"We'll help you guys look for that mugger," said Four.

"Yeah, we'll help!" echoed Five. "I actually saw him yesterday."

Tatl blinked, surprised. "What? You did?"

"Yup. A little before nightfall." Five pulled a crumpled up photo out of his pocket and showed it to them. The figure in the picture was small and out of focus, but it was definitely Skull Kid. The bright yellow eyes of his mask stood out against his black silhouette, which seemed to be skipping along South Clock Town's rooftops. Tatl could just make out a little tuft of purple light at his side. Tael. The sky beyond the town's horizon was tinted with pink and orange hues, so the picture was definitely taken at sunset.

"Wait. You said you took this _yesterday?_" asked Tatl.

"Yup."

"But…that doesn't make any sense," she muttered, exchanging a puzzled glance with Deku Boy.

"Wait a minute," said Four. He stopped writing and pointed his pencil at Tatl. "Aren't you friends with Skull Kid?"

"Uh…no." said Tatl.

Number Four looked unconvinced.

"…Yes? I used to be. But I don't associate with him anymore! I guess I took pity on Deku Boy after Skull Kid…" She could feel Deku Boy's eyes boring into her back, giving her a withering stare. "—But that's beside the point! You're not doing it for me, you're doing it for the sad deku kid. I mean, just look at him! Don't you want to help the poor thing?"

Deku Boy looked appropriately miserable.

Four narrowed his eyes at Tatl. "We'll do it for the deku kid," he said flatly.

Five raised his clunky pictograph to his face and pointed it at Deku Boy. The deku scrub eyed the camera with curiosity, and then abruptly covered his eyes when the camera's blinding flash went off. Tatl giggled at his misfortune.

Number Five grinned. "Whoops. Forgot to turn the flash off. Sorry!"

With a little grinding noise, a washed-out picture of Deku Boy slid out the bottom of his camera. Five snatched it, squirted a generous amount of glue on the back, and slapped it in Four's notebook, under a chicken scratch heading that read, "Green Hat Deku Boy".

Four gave Deku Boy an encouraging smile. "We'll come get you if we find him!"

"And I'll try to get another picture!" Five added.

"Thanks guys! I mean, Deku Boy says thanks!" Tatl said, smiling. Deku Boy waved goodbye to the Bombers and they started back toward the main loop.

"Well, that was surprisingly easy," Tatl said once out of earshot. "I thought I'd have to spend a ton of time convincing them I had left the dark side or something. You know, since I was friends with Skull Kid."

Deku Boy seemed to be giving her an inquisitive look.

"Oh, right. You must be wondering about the Bombers," she said, not totally positive if that was what was on his mind, but she may as well explain. "The Bombers...they're this club of goody-two-shoes twerps that run around town handing out community service. They think they're hot stuff and like to call themselves the 'Secret Society of Justice,' but they're actually really terrible at keeping secrets. Apparently, Skull Kid was a member before me and Tael met him, but they kicked him out. I thought they might be willing to help us since...they don't like him…"

She trailed off wistfully.

"The Bombers have the run of town, so there's a good chance they'll spot Skull Kid if he's still around here. I feel a lot better now that we got them doing half our work."

Deku Boy pointed up at the sky.

"Yeah. I know kid," she said without looking up, "but don't worry, I have a plan. I always do." She began counting off the steps of her plan on her fingers. "First we help the Great Fairy. Then hopefully by then the Bombers will have found Skull Kid. So we'll get my brother, steal your stuff back, and then…what am I missing? Oh yeah. We get the mask salesman to turn you back to normal. That is, if the Great Fairy can't." She cringed. When she listed their tasks out loud it seemed like a lot to handle. And who knows how much time it would take, or what could go wrong.

"And then…" She chanced a peek up at the black hunk of rock looming above. Deku Boy followed her gaze.

"Then we get as far away from this town as we can."

**-o-o-o-o-o-**

**A/N:** Yes, I named the little deku girl after Primrose from Hunger Games. But it's just such a cute name for a little deku girl, don't ya think? On the topic of naming...I do occasionally assign names to canon characters who do not have known names. Not all of them, just some of them. It seems downright wrong to name characters like the Happy Mask Salesman (it would ruin his air of mystery!) or the Postman, but when it comes to characters like the man who runs the curiosity shop it's like...seriously? Why doesn't this guy have a name?

Also, my minor OCs are just there to add texture to the story. Then they get shoved to the background again. I will never, ever ever ever give an OC precedence over a canon character! NEVER. You can count on that. ;)**  
><strong>


	5. Dream Window

**-o-o-o-o-o-**

~MASQUERADE~

**Chapter 3: Dream Window**

**-o-o-o-o-o-**

The girl stood with her back to him at the far end of the sunny courtyard, peering through a glass window. It was an image forever etched into the back of his mind. He, too, felt as if he was looking through a window, into one of his long gone dreams. But he knew what happened in his past was definitely no dream.

Link took a deep breath. He strode past patches of pink tulips toward the unsuspecting girl, keeping his eyes fixed on the back of her head. He didn't know what carried his legs all the way from the Temple of Time to this place of memories. He just…had to see her. Link stopped a few yards away from the shallow marble steps where she spied. He had hoped by then she'd hear his boots rustling in the grass, but she had yet to notice him. For a minute he stood there, listening to the courtyard's gentle bubbling fountains, silently willing the girl to turn around. But she never did.

"Princess?" He called under his breath.

Princess Zelda spun around, blue eyes wide. Her hand flew up to her lips as if to conceal her shock. They stood facing each other in silence for a long moment.

"Who-" she sputtered, her features frozen in surprise, "who are you?"

Link's mouth opened, but then closed again as the three words registered in his mind: _Who are you. _

His heart fell. She didn't remember him at all.

The question had caught him off guard. He could only return her bewildered stare as she blinked at him without recognition, waiting for an answer. His hazy attention drifted from the girl to the ornate window behind her. Somehow his hand found its way to his belt, where he felt a smooth, coiled object nestled within his leather pouch. _The Kokiri's Emerald_ he realized, beginning to come to grips with exactly _when_ he was.

"How did you get past the guards?" Zelda asked, nervously eyeing the sword on his back.

Link held out a hand in surrender, and with the other he slowly slipped his sword belt over his head and laid it down on the ground. "Sorry. I didn't mean to scare you. I just thought…" he trailed off, "What were you looking at just now, through that window?"

Zelda squinted at him. "E-Excuse me?"

Link dashed the rest of the way up to the window, unable to stand the suspense any longer. Zelda flinched at his sudden movement, but thankfully didn't yell for the guards. He gently shoved past her to take a look through the window himself, pressing his hands up against the cool glass. It was as he expected, but an icy cold horror still froze every vein in his body when he saw him. Ganondorf. Free, strutting through the castle as if he owned it, his evil plans for the future no doubt racing through his mind at the very moment.

"Hey," Zelda's voice roused him out of his thoughts. Suddenly he was aware of her eyes studying him.

"Do you know that man in there?"

Link tore his gaze away from the dark Gerudo leader and looked deep into her shining blue eyes. He couldn't even begin to describe the situation, so he just gave a grave nod. Zelda searched his face, waiting for him to say something. Her words from a time long-gone echoed in his mind. _Everything was my doing_.

"I came to warn you," Link said, and as soon as the words rolled off his tongue he was sure this was what Zelda meant him to do. "The man in there…Ganondorf. He's plotting a siege on Hyrule."

Zelda lowered her gaze, her eyes swimming with fear. "A few nights ago I had a dream that led me to believe he would take Hyrule," she murmured, "I dreamed I was tearing through the night on a white horse, and he was chasing after me…"

Link knew the dream—the nightmare— too well, for he had lived it.

Zelda took a quivery breath. "How did you find out about him?" she asked suddenly, turning to face him. "You must be some sort of messenger. Who sent you?"

Link hesitated. He was never good with careful, roundabout explanations—Navi had always taken care of those— so he figured he should just get straight to the point. Tell her the truth. He couldn't be sure how she'd react, but he knew if there were only one person in this world who'd believe him...it would be her.

"You sent me."

A crease appeared between her eyebrows.

Link swallowed. "You sent me from the future," he finished.

Zelda just stared at him.

He continued on before doubt could form in her mind, "You don't remember….but we met before. Right here, in this same place. You told me about your dream, and we made a plan to get the three spiritual stones and break into the sacred realm."

Zelda seemed intent on his words, absorbing all this with wide eyes.

"But it was all wrong," he said gravely, "Ganondorf got there first. He took the Triforce, and we led him straight to it."

Link averted his eyes glared down at his feet. He wasn't ready to relive it all over again. There was so much she didn't know. He wished there were some way to just make her remember, but perhaps that would have been selfish of him.

Maybe Zelda had wanted to forget.

Suddenly a gentle hand brushed up against his shoulder. He lifted his head, and saw his serious expression reflected back at him in Zelda's eyes.

"You're not lying," she muttered, "are you…"

Link shook his head sadly.

Zelda's features softened. "It's ok. You don't have to explain everything right now." She turned away from the window, letting her hand slide off his shoulder. He felt an unexpected, fleeting disappointment when she did so.

"I believe you," she said finally, smoothing the folds in her lavender dress, "but my father's the one who makes the decisions here, and I don't know if I could say the same for him." She clasped her hands in front of her, and Link could see she was trembling. "What should we do?" she wondered, "Is there _anything_ we can do?"

"Yes," he replied with certainty. "You need to try talking to the King."

Zelda turned to meet his eyes. He could tell from the look on her face that this was not what she had been hoping to hear.

"Don't you think I've already tried that?" she said sharply, "I told him all about my dream, but he didn't think it was a prophecy. He said dreams don't work that way…that the dream was born out of my needless worries, nothing more, and we can't accuse someone of treason over that. We need evidence."

"...evidence?" Link asked.

"Proof," Zelda told him, "it means they need something solid to prove he's a traitor."

"Then isn't there a way you can just get him to look into it? You don't have to tell him I was here," he added, not so sure her father would take well to the 'boy from the future' story.

"I don't know," Zelda said, "I suppose I could try again, but what if he still doesn't believe me?"

"He will. Just show him how worried you are, and maybe he'll listen."

"How do you know?" she demanded. "From the sound of it, he didn't believe me in the time you came from."

"He has to. If you keep trying he has to because..." Link searched for the right words, "because you're telling the truth."

Zelda frowned, but seemed to consider his reasoning.

"The truth has to come out sometime," he said.

She shifted her gaze back to the window. Link followed her eyes and saw him, down on one knee, his hand crossed over his heart in false allegiance.

"You're right," Zelda said at length. "You and I both know Ganondorf is a real threat, so the proof is out there. They just need to look for it." She glowed with a newfound determination, just like the old Zelda he knew, "and so I'll try again. I won't give up yet!"

A little smile touched her face. Link felt his face turn hot. He looked away to conceal his blush.

Suddenly, a sharp intake of breath brought him back to his senses. Zelda's eyes were focused on something over his shoulder. He whipped around and saw a castle guard watching them through a window. Before either of them could do anything, the guard ran off.

"He saw you!" Zelda exclaimed.

"I better go," Link said, flying down the steps. He slung his sword over his shoulder. "I'll come back later!"

He made to sprint across the garden, but Zelda grabbed his arm.

"What if you can't make it back here?"

She had a point. The last time he tried to sneak into the castle, he discovered the guards had found the hidden passage he used and blocked it up with cement.

Zelda leaned close to him and whispered in his ear, "a few weeks from today, I'm set to make an appearance at a festival. A masquerade," she added mischievously. "It's the perfect occasion for a secret meeting. If we don't get to see each other before then, meet me in town that night. I want to know more…about the future."

Link gave a curt nod and took off across the courtyard.

"Wait!" Zelda called after him. He skidded to a halt and turned halfway around to face her. She smiled sweetly.

"Your name?"

He felt a pang of sadness at the question—a stinging reminder that she had completely forgotten him—but he quickly masked it with a tiny smile.

"It's Link!"

* * *

><p>Tatl and Deku Boy spent the afternoon overturning Clock Town's east entertainment district for the missing piece of the Great Fairy. They began by snooping around the outside of the town hall and the guard headquarters. Then they took a peek into the popular milk bar, but saw the Deku Elementary scrubs seated in a long line at the counter, happily sucking down milkshakes with their tiny snouts. So they hightailed it out of there and moved on. They checked inside every building that had an open window, including an abandoned theater, a small history museum, a tacky old shooting gallery, and an arcade run by a young couple that couldn't seem to keep their hands off each other. But during all that time, they only managed to find a few dropped rupees.<p>

Come late afternoon, they took their search to a casino shaped like a giant treasure chest. There was no one inside but the person manning at the counter, a lazy girl with short purple hair and a nose ring who proceeded to fuss over Deku Boy the second they walked in the door. Tatl refused a discounted game for him and they took a quick look around the place.

Deku Boy plopped down on the rainbow polka dot carpet and slumped against a slot machine, clearly worn-out. He inhaled a deep breath and slowly let it hiss out of his wooden snout.

"I'm starving!" Tatl complained, perching on top of the slot machine. Deku Boy's stomach growled in agreement. He had grown sluggish in the past hour, and spacier than usual, probably because he hadn't eaten the entire day. He definitely needed to get some food in his system soon.

"There's a farmer's market in West Clock Town, but it might be closed by the time we make it over there. They shut down around 4:30, I think." She cursed herself internally for not thinking of food sooner. Technically, fairies didn't even need to eat to stay alive; food was just a luxury she wasn't going to miss out on. But Deku Boy, on the other hand...

"Um, so I heard about this thing where if deku scrubs stare at the sun for a really long time..." she shrugged, "it's kind of like eating."

He gave her a skeptical look.

"...okay, we'll go look for some actual food. Maybe the lady up front knows a good place we can eat nearby."

They rested a few more minutes, then Deku Boy climbed to his feet and they went back to the front of the shop. They found the purple-haired girl passed out on the counter, snoring softly.

"Hey. Lady! Wake up!" Tatl yelled in her ear. But the girl continued to snooze, a trail of drool snaking down the side of her chin. Frustrated, Tatl tugged on one of her earrings, but she still didn't budge.

Deku Boy was tiredly flipping through some brochures at the foot of the counter, and had accumulated a miniature pile of them on the floor. A yellow flyer by his foot caught Tatl's attention.

"Stockpot Inn? I saw that place across the street from here. Looked pretty cheap," Tatl said, gliding down to skim the flyer. "It says here they double as an 'inn and a restaurant'. Maybe we can scrounge up a meal with those rupees you found."

Deku Boy picked up the mess he made and they headed across the street to Stockpot Inn, taking the flyer with them. The inn itself seemed to be melded into the inner walls of the town, and was distinguishable by the giant copper bell erected atop its flat roof. A smudged sign that read, _Welcome to Stockpot Inn_ dangled from a wooden post by the doorway.

Deku Boy opened the door and they entered the hotel's foyer. The air inside was stuffy, and had a slight musty smell to it. To the right there was a small waiting area consisting of a green bench, a newspaper stand, and an end table bearing a stained doily and an empty pot of coffee. The walls—painted a drab beige—were adorned with a set of very large, very ghastly-looking ceremonial masks. They had bared teeth and hungry eyes that popped out of their sockets, eerily reminding Tatl of the moon.

Opposite the waiting area was a long, L-shaped counter. A petite young woman stood behind it, staring across the way at the peeling wall. She had short auburn hair that framed her face, and a glazed-over look in her blue eyes that suggested her mind was somewhere far away from the front desk. It took her a good ten seconds to notice the short deku scrub in front of her.

"Ah!" she jumped, nearly knocking over a vase of flowers. She snatched it in her hands just before it tumbled off the desk, gripping it twice as hard as necessary. "W-what a cute guest! I'm sorry, I was-I mean- " she faltered, "welcome to Stockpot Inn! Um…you wouldn't happen to have a reservation?" she asked, offering him a small smile.

Deku Boy stared at her uncertainly for a moment, then slowly shook his head.

"…No?" Her eyebrows furrowed with sympathy. "I'm sorry. We're totally booked with reservations, so we're not taking any walk-ins today. Please tell that to your mother." She sighed, finally letting go of the vase. "I really am sorry. We're just always so busy this time of year. I've had to turn so many people away today."

"Ahem," coughed Tatl.

"Hm? Did someone else..." The receptionist looked around. Her eyes settled on Tatl. "Oh! Hello, Miss Fairy. I didn't see you there."

"Whatever. I'm used to it," Tatl said. "We didn't come here to get a room, lady. We want to eat!"

The receptionist tilted her head. "...Eat?"

"That's right! Just like it says in your ad here."

Deku Boy showed her the yellow flyer they had picked up at the treasure chest shop.

The receptionist took it, brushing a swathe of her dark-red hair behind her ear. "But…we haven't served food here for over eight years," she said, frowning at the slip of paper. "Where did you find this? It's really old."

Just then the front door swung open and banged against the wall, startling all three of them. They goggled at the hulking customer who entered: a goron from the northern mountains. Gorons always had an intimidating way about them, with their rock-hard ochre skin and sheer girth. They all had black, wide-set eyes, thick lips, and a broad head that narrowed into a volcano-shaped cone that distinguished them from other races.

This one wore a blue traveling cap atop his head and a gigantic rucksack that just barely squeezed through the doorway. The wooden floorboards creaked and moaned under his weight as he lumbered toward the desk step by step. Deku Boy looked incredibly puny beside him, the top of his head just barely reaching the portly creature's knees.

"H-hi! W-welcome to Stockpot Inn. I'm terribly sorry, there are no vacancies today. We're booked solid with reservations," the receptionist told the goron in one breath when he reached the counter. He blinked at her in something of a dazed stupor. Everything always seemed to be in slow motion with gorons. But then again, the lady had spoken so fast it was almost impossible to understand her.**  
><strong>

"But," said the goron eventually, rubbing his wide forehead. "I should have a reservation-goro,"

"Oh! I'm s-sorr-"

"The name is Link. Don't you have it-goro?"

"Y-yes! I mean, if you made a reservation I should have it right here. Just a moment." The receptionist grabbed a thick binder labeled, "Check-ins" and began hurriedly flipping through it.

Deku Boy had strangely gone alert when the Link spoke. He turned to Tatl and jumped up in the air to get her attention.

Tatl raised an eyebrow. "What?"

"Nnnk!" he strained out, pointing to the goron.

"Huh? 'Nnk?'" Tatl repeated. She considered the goron. "Link? Is that what you're trying to say? You know this guy, Link?" she asked.

He started to nod, but then shook his head. He pointed to the goron again and then motioned to himself.

"Link…you?" Tatl ventured.

The deku scrub nodded vigorously.

"That's your name?"

"Mmhm," he managed.

"Are you kidding me?"

He shook his head.

"Mr. Link…" the receptionist muttered to herself. Deku Boy turned toward her reflexively when she said "Link." That was his name, no doubt about it.

"Ah! Here it is! I do have your reservation," said the receptionist, producing a small envelope from her binder. "Your room is our 'knife chamber' on the second floor. And here is your room key—"

The key slipped out of her fingers and clinked to the floor. She ducked behind her desk, popped back up with the key, and sheepishly handed it to the goron. He thanked her. But then instead of hauling himself straight up to his room, he propped an elbow up on the desk and started asking her about the local attractions.

Tatl tapped Link on the shoulder. "Let's just go. We're obviously not getting any food here anyway," she said under her breath.

After being inside the inn, the air outside felt cool and fresh. Crackling torches cast circles of warm light over the darkening cobblestone street, giving off a smoky incense that curled under their noses. The sun had begun to set, and the ring of the sky above the town walls was tinged a magnificent pink.

"So…Link, huh? Not exactly a common name," Tatl said, leaning back to admire the sunset. "Honestly, I can't believe we just happened to run into some guy with the same name as you. What are the chances? And just when I was getting so used to calling you Deku B-"

And then she saw it: an amber wisp of light slowly streaking across the rosy sky. If they hadn't been so desperately searching for it, she might have mistaken it for a rising star.

"Look!" she exclaimed, pointing up at the stray fairy. The sprite was hovering above the center of the square about two stories up. It beat its wings against the wind feebly, drifting back and forth like a jellyfish in a tide.

"I'll go get it," she told Link, "be right back."

When flew up to the sprite, she realized how truly weird they looked up close. It appeared infantile—its head oversized in proportion to its body, its eyes sealed shut, its stubby limbs twisted at odd angles. And yet it was nearly three times bigger than her.

Tatl poked it. "Hey, um…Great Fairy?" she said awkwardly. "Time to go back to the fountain now."

The sprite didn't respond or even acknowledge her presence. It seemed zonked out. Tatl tugged on its arm, but it wouldn't come with her**; **it just kept flapping against the wind.

"No, dummy." Tatl moved upwind of it and began pushing it down toward the ground, working with the breeze. She managed to move the sprite down a few feet, but then a little updraft swept it out of her grasp and carried it back up, undoing all her work. She groaned in frustration, looking around for something she could use to…motivate the fairy. Perhaps some fire from the torches below? But then a splotch of pink on the western edge of the square caught her eye.

"Hey Deku B-I mean Link!" she called down. He looked up at her. She figured she should get used to calling him by his real name since it seemed to grab his attention easier. "There's a pink deku flower on the sidewalk down there, near the treasure chest shop. See it?"

He looked around dazedly, and then began to plod over to the flower.

"Can you use it to get up here? I need some help," she shouted. She observed him from afar as he carefully stepped onto the flower and disappeared into its center. A few seconds later he shot out of it in a burst of pollen, gripping a twirling blossom in each hand.

"Watch yourself! You're leaning too far to your left!" Tatl yelled. But it was too late. She watched uselessly as Link banked left in a sharp curve and ricocheted off the inn's big bell, producing a resounding _crack_ that turned several heads around the square. The flowers in his hands shriveled on impact. He fell backwards, skidded across the pavement, and bumped his head against the curb on the opposite side of the street, lying on his back in a heap of bent-up stems and disintegrating petals.

Tatl glided down to the disoriented scrub, cringing. "Uh…you ok?" she asked, choking back a snort of laughter.

Link rolled over and pushed himself up off the ground with his arms, shaking pink petals out of his hair. A few people cast concerned looks in his direction, but continued on their merry ways once they saw he was all right. Unable to hold it in any longer, Tatl burst out laughing.

"That was pretty lousy," she giggled, wiping a tear from her eye. It had been a while since she had laughed so heartily. "You really are hopeless, _Deku Boy_."

She didn't really mean it, when she said he was hopeless. But Link didn't seem to understand that. He made a vague noise in his throat that sounded like a little growl and stalked back over to the flower, huffy. She was sure now that the kid couldn't detect sarcasm if it was shoved right under his hollow nose. But maybe that was a good thing. Maybe her taunting had sparked the energy he needed to fly straight.

"Just take your time. Steady yourself in the air before you fly over there," she yelled after him, "the wind's at your back, so you shouldn't have to do too much work."

Despite his indignation, he took her advice. He launched himself up again and hovered in the air to get his bearings, his features slightly screwed up in concentration. Then he leaned forward a tad and let the wind carry him into the square. He flew in a semi-steady line, wobbling from side to side, but never so far as to veer off course.

Soon, he neared the stray fairy. In one swift motion, he let go of his left flower and made a swipe for it. He plummeted to the street immediately, but this time his remaining flower acted as a parachute and put a drag on his fall. He stumbled when he hit the ground, but didn't fall over.

"Did you get it?" Tatl asked, zooming over to him.

He unclasped his hand and revealed the sprite, crumpled and unconscious in his palm.

"You…" Tatl breathed, "you've killed it."

Link jerked his head up, his eyes widening in horror.

A playful smirk crossed Tatl's face. "Kidding. It's fine. It's still glowing, see?"

He held the limp fairy close to his face. Its translucent body pulsated softly, illuminating his wooden features in an even rhythm—like a heart beat. Link stared at it intently for a few seconds, then looked back at Tatl, deadpan.

Tatl snickered. "Sorry, kid. You're just so fun to mess with."

All of the sudden, an odd feeling came over her—the feeling of being watched. She shifted slightly to catch a glimpse of their spy. A slender bald man was loitering near the East Gate on the far side of the square, leaning up against the milk bar. For some reason the immediate sight of him gave her a nervous feeling in the pit of her stomach. She couldn't quite see his face, but she was sure he was watching them.

"Don't look now, but we're being watched," she hissed through her teeth.

Link turned his head around.

"I said, 'don't look', idiot. Doesn't that mean anything to— " Tatl froze. The bald man was moving straight toward them. Tatl told herself she was paranoid, that he was just going to turn and stay on the main thoroughfare. But he didn't; he went out of his way and purposely stopped in front of them.

Tatl hovered close to Link and tensed her wings, preparing to dive-bomb the man's face if he tried anything. Though, she wasn't one hundred percent sure she could go through with it. The man folded his hands behind his back, leering at them through thin eye slits.

"Whatcha got there?" he asked innocently, bending down to peer at the golden sprite in Link's hand.

Link closed his fingers around it protectively and took a step back.

The man cocked his head to the side. "What? I only wanted to see it."

"Back off," Tatl growled, "it's none of your business."

The man's narrow eyes flickered to her, and suddenly she found herself wishing she had kept her mouth shut.

"Jeez. So quick to point fingers around here, aren't we? It's not as if I'm doing anything suspicious…" His gaze shifted back to Link.

"Really."

A sly smile twitched at the corners of the man's pale lips. Tatl braced to go for his eyes. But just when she thought he was about to make a move, he turned and sauntered off toward Upper East. They watched him slink away until he disappeared into the night.

**-o-o-o-o-o-**

**A/N:** So, I revisited this chapter for some editing, and I realized I described Sakon as a slender bald man. A _slender_ bald _man_. SLENDER MAN. Yikes.

Next up: The Great Fairy gets a makeover and tries very hard not to seem like a giant info dump. Don't miss it!


	6. The Great Fairy

**-o-o-o-o-o-**

~MASQUERADE~

**Chapter 5: The Great Fairy**

**-o-o-o-o-o-**

Finding the lost sprite had put Tatl in a better mood. She felt safer, knowing the Great Fairy would be back to her normal self within the hour. But she wouldn't feel completely at ease until they made it all the way back to the fountain.

They took a detour through South Clock Town to get there, Link carrying the missing piece of the Great Fairy in his hands. After little deliberation they had decided to stick to the oft-traveled main road, heading in the direction opposite of the suspicious bald man. It'd take more time to loop around to North going that way, but as far as Tatl was concerned it was worth it. If they got into another pinch, a small, unarmed deku scrub child and a tiny forest fairy obviously weren't going to put up much of a fight.

"That was really queer, what happened back there…" she murmured to Link, "Clock Town might seem all fine and dandy in the day time, but it has its share of crime problems. Gotta be careful around here, especially after dark. That's when the creeps come out. You know, thugs. Derelicts. I'd bet you anything that guy we ran into was one of them."

Thankfully, there had still been a few people roaming around the east square when they encountered the man. Tatl was sure their presence was the only thing that deterred him from jumping them.

The Clock Tower's 6 PM bells announced nightfall, ringing low and vibrant. Each toll resounded with a gravity of its own, standing in the air for a long moment before the next. But even as the pinkish-gray twilight blurred to deep blue and the first stars began to appear in the sky, the carpenters continued to work by torchlight, paying no mind to the bells.

After the final toll faded to nothing, the clock tower's topmost layer—a slowly-rotating, tear-shaped hunk of brick— sent a shaft of white light cutting through dark, far beyond the confines of the outer walls. Link bent his short neck backwards to its limit to get a look at the giant lantern, his eyes shining. Tatl silently mused how things she and countless others had grown so accustomed to over time, things she wouldn't even give a second thought, always seemed so new and interesting to him.

"You like it?" she said, gazing up at the beacon. "The lighthouse turns on all by itself every night. You can see the spotlight from really far away, all the way from Woodfall Mountain." She gestured backwards. Link looked over his shoulder, at the towering south gate. "Well, you can't see the mountain over the town walls, but you get the point."

They worked their way around the clock tower and headed to North by way of the same route they took that morning. Tiny square windows aglow with yellow lamplight dotted the upper stories of the apartments lining the street, and wind whispered through the overhead breezeway. They only passed a few other people turning in for the night. It was then that Tatl realized just how many people had fled town that day. Normally, the streets would still be brimming with activity so early in the evening, especially so close to the carnival. She felt herself grow more anxious as they drew closer to North, leaving the well-lit roads behind.

They found the park nearly devoid of life, the stillness in the air disturbed only by the occasional chirp of a cricket. A single street lamp emitted a faint hum a short distance down the main path, dimly lighting the way to the abandoned playground. The playground looked somewhat off-putting, cloaked in the pallid half-light cast by the moon; the sliding board and seesaws threw long, dark shadows over the park's outskirts, and the swings creaked back and forth on their rusty hinges. North Clock Town had always had an unsettling quality about it, a faint aura of strangeness that Tatl could never quite pin down. For whatever reason, that offbeat feeling became amplified night. Link must have felt it too, because he picked up the pace to get across the park. He concentrated on the opening in the rock face up ahead, his yellow-orange eyes glowing like two blazing lanterns. Vaguely, Tatl wondered how deku scrubs' eyes worked.

Suddenly a nearby bush rustled. Tatl let out a small yelp. Link broke into a sprint, quickly covering the rest of the distance to the rocky slope. Tatl zoomed up to the cave entrance and whipped around, her heart pounding in her chest. She scanned the bushes, but everything was still.

"Probably just some animal," she whispered. She swept her gaze across the park one more time for good measure as Link climbed the rest of the way up, but no one was watching them but the moon. From this angle, its unblinking red eyes seemed to be staring directly at them. It had nearly doubled in size since they had emerged from the Clock Tower doors that morning. There was no denying it now; the astronomer had been right.

Feeling thoroughly creeped out, she turned her eyes away from the grisly asteroid and followed Link into the cave. They ventured into the earth, beyond the reaches of the moon's watchful gaze, until the shale beneath their feet turned to marble and the dim light emanating from the ruined fountain seeped through the darkness once again.

When they entered the cavern, many of the sprites had already begun to gather above the puddle in the center of the room, whirling around and flashing at random as they had when they spoke to Link earlier. Link opened up his hands and released the stray fairy. A strong pulse of light coursed through its body and it stirred, seeming to react to the proximity of the other fairies. Slowly, it drifted from Link's hand and joined them in the center of the fountain, getting lost among their ranks.

It was then that something changed about the way the sprites moved. No longer were they a bunch of spasmodic shards, but a collective awareness, swimming through the air in smooth spirals like a school of flying fish. They circled around some invisible center of gravity, blinking in perfect sync with one other in a rhythm reminiscent of a quickening heartbeat.

All of the sudden, they lurched to a stop and scattered into a globular formation. The globe held for a moment, and then the sprites simultaneously imploded into a condensed orb, their little bodies stretching into thin streamers of light. Tatl thought to cover her eyes one second too late.

With a loud _crack_, the orb discharged a blinding flash of light. Tatl squeezed her eyes shut and smashed her hands into her face. She groaned, pressing her fingers into her throbbing retinas. Everything was dark; it felt like the sun had exploded right in front of her and burned two black holes through her head.

Once the burning in her eyes subsided to a tolerable level, she opened them gingerly. The fountain came back into focus, and the mystical waterfalls along the perimeter of the room gushed to life. Showers of twinkling stars poured over the walls and splashed down into the dry basin that was the fountain, sending a cool mist billowing upward. As the pool refilled, a wondrous light began to pulsate within its depths, growing brighter and brighter until it illuminated the entirety of the circular cavern and bathed the cracked marble pillars in a soft yellow glow. A ring of ripples spread out from the center of the fountain, and the Great Fairy rose out of the rejuvenated pool, beads of starlit water gleaming on her pearl-white skin.

The Great Fairy towered above the water, at nearly three times the height of a grown woman. She was scantily clothed as always, her curvaceous figure wrapped in a thin veil of green ivy leaves. The leaves vined down her elongated limbs and dappled her river of shimmering caramel hair, which trailed behind her as if suspended underwater. Her thick lashes fluttered open, revealing striking amber eyes. She blinked a few times, taking in her restored body, and then she threw back her head let out a gleeful shriek of laughter.

"Great Fairy!" Tatl said, wincing as the horrible shrieking penetrated her ears. "Thank goodness…"

"Oh, Tatl," the Great Fairy breathed, her voice suddenly taking on a melodious quality. Her gaze went to Link, who was still rubbing his eyes from the blast. "And you, young one! Thank you for returning my broken and shattered body to normal."

The Great Fairy levitated a little higher above the water's surface and bowed her head. "It's a pleasure to meet you, young one. I am the Great Fairy of Magic. And you are?"

There was an awkward pause. Link lowered his gaze.

"Um…his name's Link," Tatl volunteered.

The Great Fairy gave her a questioning look. There was no hiding it; she'd find out sooner or later.

"He can't speak. He's kind of cursed," Tatl told her.

The Great fairy's eyebrows went up. "Cursed?" She leaned toward Link and began scrutinizing him with her fiery eyes. He shifted uncomfortably. Tatl opened her mouth to offer up more information, but then closed it, deciding not too. Explaining further would only lead to certain guilty matters she didn't wish to bring up. The Great Fairy would find out everything she needed to know through whatever complex magical analysis she was doing anyway.

"You…you're not a deku scrub at all, are you?" The Great Fairy said at length. She studied him a few more seconds, then inhaled sharply.

"What's wrong?" Tatl asked.

"N-nothing. It's nothing." The Great Fairy muttered, concerned etched into her features.

Tatl rolled her eyes. _Obviously something_, she thought.

"So, you're a human cursed into a deku scrub," the Great fairy said, "and you can't speak? Not at all?"

Link shook his head.

"Hmm. I wonder why that is."

"Well, he makes little squeaks and grunts here and there," Tatl interjected. "I think he's just having trouble adjusting to his deku scrub mouth. Maybe. I really don't know." She shrugged. "But you pretty much got the gist of his problems. Think you can help him?"

The Great Fairy frowned. "I'm not sure," she said dubiously, rubbing her chin, "I can try." She fixed Link in her gaze again and spread her long arms, stretching one out in front of her and the other back behind her head.

"Brace yourself," she told him.

Suddenly her pupils ignited, shining with a light as bright and intense as the sun. In one swift motion, she brought her hands together in front of her heart. Link squeaked in pain.

The Great Fairy gritted her teeth. "Keep very still, hon, and try to clear your head."

Very slowly, she began to tear her hands apart. An ear-piercing scream erupted from Link's snout. His entire body shuddered and he fell to his knees, clutching his chest and gasping for dear life. A horrible sound like breaking glass rung through the fountain.

The Great Fairy immediately released Link from her magical hold and dropped her arms, her eyes fading to their normal shade of amber. A jagged crack had appeared on her face, under her left eye. Panting, Link crawled over to the pool to glimpse his reflection, brushing his hand against the surface of the water. He was still a deku scrub.

The Great Fairy pressed a hand to the crack on her cheek and turned away, staring off into space. "I'm sorry, young one. I can't," she admitted a bit shamefully, closing her eyes.

Tatl felt nervous in the pit of her stomach. The Great Fairy couldn't do anything for him. That was more than a little disconcerting. Even though the mask salesman had agreed to help Link break his curse, Tatl never had a doubt in her mind that the Great Fairy wouldn't be able to fix him first. From the looks of it, Link thought she'd be able to help too. Uncomfortable with the silence in the room, Tatl fluttered over to him, lightly touched the side of his head, and whispered in his ear,

"Don't worry, Link. Um…I'm sure that salesman knows what he's doing!" She cringed, suddenly feeling doubtful. "Maybe…"

Link didn't react to her words. He just kept staring down at the water with that usual sad look on his face. Tatl backed away and left him at the water, wondering if he was mad at her. Who was she kidding? Of course he was mad at her. He had to be. It was her fault he was stuck like this, that he got roped into Clock Town's horrible mess to begin with. There was no denying that she was partly responsible for his sad state; she just hated admitting it.

"I am in your debt, young Link," the Great Fairy said at length. "Please, come into the water and allow me to ease your weariness. I'm afraid for now, this is all I can offer you…"

Link slid into the fountain. His entire body seemed to give a heaving sigh as the sparkling water washed over him, submerging him up to his neck. He closed his eyes and leaned his head against the edge of the pool. The Great Fairy watched him anxiously, bobbing up and down above the water. She crossed her arms, trying to appear calm.

"The masked Skull Kid who shattered me…he did this to you," she murmured. She turned to Tatl. "Tatl, I seem to remember that you, your brother, and the Skull Kid were inseparable only a short time ago."

Tatl swallowed nervously. Of course she would have known about their friendship with Skull Kid. Despite the Great Fairy's confinement to the fountain, she was aware of almost everything that happened in her domain, Central Termina.

"Do you have any idea where he got his hands on that mask?" asked the Great Fairy.

"No idea," she lied quickly, not wanting to go down that road of conversation.

"Then answer me this, Tatl. How did you and Link come to meet each other?"

Tatl hesitated, but she knew she couldn't get out of this one. "Alright," she said, taking a deep breath. "Me, Tael and Skull Kid were just playing around in the woods as usual, when we found this kid riding along on his horse. He looked really zoned out, so Skull Kid thought it'd be fun to play a little prank on him and mug him." Now that she thought about it, it had been odd, a kid his age traveling through the woods by himself. What in the world had he been doing out there to begin with?

"And, where were you during all this?" asked the Great Fairy.

"Oh! Me and Tael. We were uh…there."

The Great Fairy arched an eyebrow, waiting for her to elaborate.

"Ok, so we might have helped a little. We spooked his horse," she admitted. "But we just wanted to give him a scare! And we were gonna give back his stuff. Eventually. I thought we were, anyway. But then Link started chasing us. So Skull Kid used his magic mask to turn him into a little deku boy and then he was mean and slammed a door in my face." The Great Fairy was giving her a strange look.

"What? You can't blame me for that part. The deku scrub thing was _all_ Skull Kid. It started with the scaring and then escalating to the mugging and then, I don't know, Skull Kid just kept running with it. Honestly, I don't know what you expected me to do in that situation."

The Great Fairy just sighed and hung her head in disappointment.

"You know Great Fairy, there are quite a few things I've been meaning to ask _you_," Tatl said, changing the subject. She glanced around the fountain. Large chunks of fallen rock still jutted out of the water, and long burn marks scorched the archway above their heads, blackening the faces of the angelic fairies carved into the architecture.

"For one, what the hell happened in here?"

The Great Fairy groaned, placing a hand on her forehead. "Your language, Tatl."

"Sorry, sorry," Tatl apologized, waving dismissively. "But really, what happened?"

The Great Fairy turned in a circle, assessing the damage. Her trail of golden-orange hair billowed out behind her.

"Terrible, isn't it?" she said, a deep frown set in her features. "Skull Kid and your brother arrived here out of the blue about five nights ago. At first I thought Tael brought him in here because he needed my help, but then—

"Whoa, hold up," Tatl interrupted. "_Five_ nights? There's no way that's right. You must be confused. I only just got separated from Skull Kid yesterday. And I think I would have noticed if Tael went off with him for a long while before that."

"I assure you, I'm not confused at all," the Great Fairy said, placing her hands on her hips. "Exploring the labyrinths beneath the clock tower, were you?"

"Yeah. What of it?"

She shook her head disapprovingly. "That's why then. You shouldn't go in there. The place is an unusual phenomenon in of itself. There's a sort of rift...a displacement in the flow of time, between here and there."

Tatl squinted. "A what a what now?"

"It's hard to explain. Just think of it as time passing at a slower rate in the Labyrinths."

"So wait, let me get this straight," said Tatl, trying to wrap her mind around what the Great Fairy was saying. "You mean in the couple hours we were lost down there, Skull Kid's been running around up here wreaking havoc for over _five days?_"

The Great fairy nodded. "Spend too long wandering the Labyrinths, and you may find the world has moved on without you," she said in a mystical voice.

Tatl gaped. "Well. Thanks for letting me know _after_ I've gone in there half a dozen times!" she said, finding this new revelation a little unnerving. "Why do you think that happens? That time thingy."

The Great Fairy shrugged her shoulders. "It's a mystery I don't fully understand. I wouldn't be able to find out more without going there myself, which is of course impossible. But if you'd like to investigate—"

"No thanks," Tatl cut her off.

The Great Fairy gave a shallow laugh.

"So, what were you saying about Skull Kid and Tael?"

"Oh yes," said Great fairy, realizing how off-track they had gotten. "When they entered the fountain, the first thing that perturbed me was Skull Kid's mask. It radiates an..._alarmingly_ powerful magic. And then there was Tael..."

"Tael?" Tatl echoed anxiously. "Was he ok?"

"He looked very troubled," the Great Fairy answered, "I suspected he had been forced to lead Skull Kid into the fountain against his will, but before I could react the latter started firing some nasty spells at me." She screwed up her face, as if drudging up a bad memory.

"Thankfully none of the fairies residing here were hurt. I managed to hold Skull Kid off long enough for them to escape unharmed, but then that's the last thing I remember."

"Then," Tatl gulped, "I don't suppose you know what happened to the moon?"

The Great Fairy cast her eyes up toward the ceiling. "I've been well aware of the changes in the sky for some time now," she said. "But as for why or how it's happening, I don't know."

A chill ran down Tatl's spine. "At the mayor's office they were saying it's supposed to fall two days from now."

The Great Fairy's expression became solemn. "That may very well be so," she said regretfully. "I only wish I could intervene, but you know how tightly bound I am to this fountain. As for you two, you'd do best to flee as far away from Clock Town as you can once you're done in here."

"We can't leave yet. Not until we've found Skull Kid. We've been looking for him the whole day to get my brother and Link's stuff back, but so far we got nothing."

"Well then, perhaps I can aid you with that," the Great Fairy said. "I can still sense the mask somewhere in my domain, so he must not be terribly far." She directed her attention down toward the fountain and waved her long across it. When she did so, a silver ripple passed through the water, and foggy images began undulating back and forth just beneath the surface. The fountain was basically a giant spyglass the Great Fairy could use to watch over Clock Town, but now something appeared to be wrong with it.

"No good," the Great Fairy said. "The Skull Kid's attack has left me in a severely weakened state, and so the fountain is still murky."

"When do you think it'll be cleared up?" Tatl asked.

She let out a long sigh. "It'll take some time for me to completely recover from that ordeal. Another two, maybe three days."

"We don't have three days!"

"I know," the Great fairy said gravely. "There may be another way. Outside Clock Town, there's an old astronomer who has surely been keeping a cautious eye on the moon with that powerful telescope of his. He may also have sighted the imp, so I suggest you pay him a visit at the Astral Observatory."

"The Astral Observatory," Tatl echoed. "You mean that dome on the east side of the field?"

"That's the place," said the Great Fairy. "Perhaps he'll let you use his telescope if you ask him _nicely._"

Tatl looked to her deku scrub partner, ignoring the Great Fairy's chiding remark. "Did you get all that, Link?

No response.

"Link? …he's sleeping."

Link lay perfectly still, his chest rising up and down slowly, his eyes dull and lifeless. Tatl had been around enough deku scrubs to know they slept with their eyes open.

"That was fast." she remarked.

The Great Fairy didn't say anything. Tatl stared out across the pool. Enchanted jets of water skipped across the fountain's surface in graceful arcs every so often, leaving trails of receding ripples in their wake.

"Are you mad at me?" she asked at length.

There was a pause, a little too long for comfort. "No," the Great Fairy said, "but Tatl, you should know it has been a very long time, centuries, since I've seen a hex of this magnitude."

Tatl remained silent.

"I didn't want to mention this to him—he already has so much weight to bear," she continued softly, looking down on Link's sleeping form, "but I'm not so sure I could help him even if I was at my full potential. Countering that mask's magic is a risky undertaking."

"What do you mean?"

The Great Fairy motioned to the crack running down her face, a black lightning bolt against her flawless white skin. "Well, when I tried to lift his curse, my spell rebounded and nearly shattered me again. If that's not a cause for concern, I don't know what is," she sighed. "It seems you three children hadn't a clue you were playing with fire."

Tatl felt a stab of guilt at her words.

"Now if you'll excuse me, I also need to get some rest in order to regain my strength," The Great Fairy said, closing her eyes. "Good night, Tatl."

And with that, she dissolved back into the fountain, becoming one with the water. The lights faded until only the gentle fluorescent spray rising from the falls dimly lit the cave. **  
><strong>

**-o-o-o-o-o-**

**A/N: **I hope no one's too disappointed that I cut out the magic bubbles. I just think deku nuts are more bada$$. That's honestly the only reason I did it.

While we're on the subject of great fairies, I may as well mention that I cut out...all the other great fairies. The Great Fairy of Clock Town is the only one who has any relevance to the plot, so she just presides over all the fairy fountains. :)

Also, I don't care who you are YOU NEED TO GO TO SYMPHONY OF THE GODDESSES. It's fabulous! I listened to their rendition of the Great Fairy Fountain theme to help me write this chapter. There is _nothing_ like it!**  
><strong>


	7. There and Back Again

**-o-o-o-o-o-**

~MASQUERADE~

**Chapter 5: There and Back Again**

**-o-o-o-o-o-**

Link navigated his way through the dense undergrowth by the pale glow of a half moon. It subtly revealed the path before him, casting dim beams between thick tree trunks, glistening on drops of dew that dappled the ferns and fallen logs at his feet. The humid air teemed with a continuous warble of crickets and cicadas, and tiny fireflies blinked all around him.

It wasn't long before he found his way to the shallow chasm that separated Kokiri Forest from the rest of the world. He traveled south along the cliff side, stepping over gnarled roots and vines as he went, until he came to the wooden suspension bridge that extended over the gap. The old bridge gently swayed back and forth beneath him as he treaded over it. Halfway across, someone spoke from behind him.

"Back so soon?"

Link spun around, startled. A young girl who appeared to be about his age stood at the end of the bridge, a scarlet fairy perched on her shoulder. He hadn't even heard her following him. She wore a green tunic nearly identical to his, and two blonde buns bobbed at the back of her head. Link recognized her, having interacted with her on a few…weird occasions. But he was at a loss for her name.

"Hey," he said simply.

The kokiri girl merely uttered a playful laugh. Link held her gaze another moment, and then he turned to continue across the bridge.

"I wouldn't go back if I were you."

Link stopped and faced the girl again, glaring at her suspiciously. "Why not?"

A devious smile spread across the blonde girl's face. It was that smile that made Link reluctant to fully trust her. "Oh, you know why…" she said with a hint of mischief.

There was something chilling about her words. Link searched her face for a sign of deceit, but her features betrayed nothing. Without another word, he turned and left, feeling her eyes on him as he walked the rest of the way across bridge and disappeared into the foliage. Real warning or not, he didn't care. He was going back no matter what.

Soon, the canopy thinned until the stars could be seen above, and the treaded path before him opened up into the wide clearing that was Kokiri Village. The smell of smoke reached his nose. Some kids were gathered around a small bonfire in front of Mido's house, whispering amongst themselves. A couple of them cast spiteful glances in his direction, but he ignored them, continuing around a large clump of forest that jutted out into the clearing. He walked around the bend to his tree house and climbed up the ladder, his eyes glossing over an old drawing he had scratched onto the trunk some years ago. Once at the top, he pulled himself up onto his small balcony and passed through the flap of ragged curtain that served as his front door.

His heart sank at the sight of his empty home. He thought Navi might be in his house waiting for him when he returned, but perhaps he had gotten his hopes up. Feeling a little dismayed, he trudged across the small, circular room and started dumping off his gear on the table, taking inventory of all that he had on him. His kokiri sword, a wooden deku shield, a small wallet containing sixteen rupees, his slingshot, a handful of deku seeds, the Kokiri's Emerald, his fairy ocarina—a gift from Saria—and last, something he didn't expect: A mask.

It was a mask of a horned skull, with hollow eye sockets and a single row of crooked teeth. He vaguely remembered how he had gotten it in the market nearly a year ago, even though now it only would have only been yesterday. It looked pretty beat up; there was a deep crack running down the center of its forehead, and one of the horns was chipped. But seeing as this was the only mask he owned, he decided he might as well keep it for the masquerade next month.

Just then a faint noise pricked his ears. Link stiffened his muscles and listened. He could hear someone breathing softly directly behind him. Someone was in the house.

Footsteps thudded across the room toward him. Link grabbed the deku shield off the table and whipped around, thrusting it out in front of him blindly. There was a sharp _crack_ as it collided with the intruder's head and blew apart in his hand, sending several sharp pains shooting up his forearm.

The intruder stumbled backwards, stunned. Ignoring the pain in his arm, Link used the opening to snatch the hoe leaning against the wall behind him. He maneuvered it sideways and met the attacker head on as they threw themselves at him again, using the hoe to force them back and pin them against the far wall. The person's face fell into a shaft of moonlight filtering through the window. Reddish-blonde hair, freckled cheeks, upturned nose.

"Mido…" Link muttered.

"You killed him," Mido snarled between frantic breaths. _"You killed the Deku Tree!"_

With unexpected force, Mido wrenched the hoe out of Link's hands and kicked him in the stomach, sending him sprawling onto his back. He gasped for air, the wind knocked out of him. Suddenly, his vision became engulfed by a bright yellow light.

"Saria," Link heard Mido gasp. "What are you doing here?"

Saria stood in the doorway, wrapped in a dark-green cloak and clutching a lantern in her hand. Link's heart skipped with joy at the sight of his old friend.

"Mido, put the hoe down," she said firmly.

"Saria, you—you're siding with _him?_" Mido cried in disbelief, "He's a killer! Just look at him, he doesn't even seem upset!"

_Killer._ The accusation stung Link's chest like an arrow. He felt hurt by it at first, then suddenly very angry. He sprang to his feet, glaring a challenge at Mido. He had half a mind to fly at him and make him eat those words. Saria must have sensed it, because she put her arm between them.

"I'm not siding with anyone," she said very calmly, but firmly. "I just want you to leave Link alone. He didn't do it."

"But Saria—"

"Please, just go home Mido," she pleaded. There was hurt in her voice.

Mido opened his mouth to protest, but then stopped short, looking dejected. For some reason, he could never refuse Saria. His features quickly settled back into a scowl and he stomped out of the house, sulky. They heard him slide down the ladder and run off.

"Are you ok, Link?" Saria asked, setting her lantern down on the table.

"Yeah," he grunted, examining the rather large wood splinters lodged in his left arm. "Nothing major."

"Nothing major?" Saria echoed in surprise. "Link, it looks like there's a miniature forest growing on your arm! Here, let me help you."

Before Link could decline her offer, she took his arm in her hands and started to pluck the splinters out one by one. He winced at the pain, trying to hold still for her. Once she had extracted every last one, she soaked a wash cloth in a bucket of water and began dabbing at the bleeding wounds.

"I'm sorry about Mido," she said at length, focusing on his arm. "He'll mellow out after some time. He's just devastated, like all of us, after what happened to the Deku Tree…"

"I know," Link said, though he couldn't help but feel a little resentful toward Mido for assaulting him in his own home. Saria, on the other hand, always had such an objective way of looking at things...

"I think it makes him feel better, if he tries to explain things by putting the blame on you," she said sadly, "but don't worry, Link. I know it's not your fault. I know the Deku Tree was as much a father to you as any of us, even though…" she trailed off. Tears were budding in her eyes. "Sorry," she rasped, wiping them way.

"No," Link told her. He reached forward to comfort her, but something stayed his hand. "It...it's okay."

Forcing a tiny smile, Saria let go of his arm and brushed past him. Link let his arm drop to his side and stared straight ahead at a random point on the wall, listening to her quiet sobs. A renewed melancholy swept over him. It was all so much to handle at once; Zelda forgetting him, drudging up the Deku Tree's death all over again. Coming back home to the forest, only to remember he'd just have to leave Saria behind again...

He heard Saria rummaging through his drawers. Before long, she came back with some bandages and began wrapping his arm gingerly. For a few minutes, they just stood there in silence.

"You know, Link," she said at length, peering up from her work for just a moment, "I missed you."

"I—" Link stammered, taken aback by this sudden heartfelt statement. "I did too. I mean, I missed you too."

Saria gave a light laugh. "I'm really happy you came back to visit, Link. But I'm also surprised. I didn't expect to see you again so soon, after only three days."

_Three days...had it only been that long to her?_ "I…didn't expect to be back so soon either," Link said slowly. "I actually came back because I was looking for Navi."

"Navi? Oh, your new fairy," Saria recalled. "Didn't she leave with you?"

"Yes," Link said, "but I lost her this morning. I thought she might have come back to the forest. You haven't seen her?"

"Oh, no. I'm sorry, Link," she said, her features sympathetic, "I haven't seen her. Have you, Mari?" She looked to the fairy hovering at her side. Mari, a sprite with mossy green glow identical to her companion's hair, was somewhat timid and usually only talked to Saria. But now to Link's surprise, she fluttered forward and spoke to him.

"I think I did see her, actually," she said softly.

"You did?" Link exclaimed. "Where?"

Mari shrunk back a little at his outburst. "I thought I saw a blue fairy headed toward the Great Deku Tree's clearing earlier today. But it was from a distance, so I could be mistaken!"

"That might have been her," Saria said, "Maybe she came back here looking for you too, Link!"

"Maybe…" he echoed, feeling a little bit of relief. But then his spirits fell again at the memory of Navi's departure. If she had really come back here, then why hadn't she told him so before she left?

"Is anything else bothering you?" Saria asked.

Everything, the entirety of his life since the day he left the forest, raced through his mind.

"No," he lied.

She searched his eyes. She doubted him, he knew, but she wouldn't press the issue. She smiled at him sadly and patted him on the shoulder. "I'll help you look for Navi tomorrow, ok?"

Link looked into her kind blue eyes, thankful to have such a caring friend. "Okay," he muttered.

She gave him one last encouraging nod, and then she turned away and started toward the door.

"Saria," he said before she could leave.

She looked over her shoulder at him.

"Thank you," he told her sincerely.

Saria smiled. "Of course. You know I'll always be here for you, Link," she said. And then she left.

Now alone, Link walked over to the mirror by his bed and splashed some water in his face. It felt strange, talking to Saria in his house again as if nothing had ever happened. Here he was back at the very beginning. The boy without a fairy. He smoothed his damp hair away from his face. His eyes glared back at him from the mirror, two pools of cold blue metal. Hardened and refined by memories no ten-year old should have. They seemed almost out of place on his face…

He turned from the mirror and looked at the wood shield splints scattered about the room. No loss there, at least. Wooden shields were flimsy and were practically made to be broken. He'd destroyed them in almost every way imaginable. _Cracked by Mido's head. That's a new one, _he thought bitterly. He'd planned to purchase a stronger shield on his next visit to Hyrule Castle Town anyway, once he could get the money. Overcome with exhaustion, he kicked his muddy boots off and flopped facedown on the bed, deciding he would clean up the mess tomorrow.

_Do it now, _a little voice in the back of his mind nagged him. _Don't be a lazy boy._ He brushed it aside, burying his face in his pillow. But then with a pang of regret, he realized it was Navi's voice.

With a reluctant groan, he dragged himself out of bed and began picking up the pieces of wood, piling them neatly on the balcony outside. When he was done he went back inside and climbed into bed again, feeling glum. He tried to tell himself not to worry about Navi. He'd look for her tomorrow once it was light out, and he'd find her. Saria would help out. Everything would be okay. He closed his eyes. A soft breeze was blowing through the open window above his bed, lightly rustling his damp hair. He breathed the fresh air in through his nose, letting the humming cicadas lull him to sleep, when all of the sudden the wall of black behind his eyelids brightened ever so slightly. He opened his eyes and sat up. Sharp rays of light were seeping through the window and the edges of the doorway, bathing the interior of the hollowed out trunk in an intensifying orange glare.

Gripped by a fearful impulse, Link shot across the room, snatched the emerald, and charged out the doorway. He leaped over the rail of his balcony, and the next second his entire house exploded into flames behind him.

As he twisted through the air, his eyes darted below and locked with Ganondorf's. The man sat mounted atop his great black horse at the base of the smoldering tree, the fire reflected in his evil eyes.

Link cried out in agony as he landed hard on his right ankle, turning it painfully. For a moment, the world seemed to spin. The edges of his vision went black, and the sound of his own heart pounding in his ears threatened to overwhelm his senses. But impelled by the presence of Ganondorf, he tore himself up off the ground and ran for his life.

Close behind he heard the unsheathing of a blade, and then the dark horse reared. He didn't look back. Disoriented, he bounded for the woods, dragging his sore foot along as fast as he could. But the heavy hoof beats were bearing down on him. Suddenly, his bad ankle gave way and he pitched forward, landing face down in the grass. He tried to push himself up again, but his body didn't respond. He couldn't move, couldn't see, couldn't breath. He could only hear Ganondorf laughing somewhere above him. A beat before he expected, the blade plunged into his back.

-o-o-o-

Link jerked awake, panting and covered in cold sweat, his face smothered deep in his pillow. He jumped out of bed and dashed across the room, crunching over the pieces of wooden shield that were still scattered all over the floor. The Kokiri's Emerald was still on the table.

He heaved a sigh of relief. It was just a bad dream. He picked up the emerald, tracing his thumb along the raised swirl of gold that encased the gleaming green jewel. The fact that he had brought it back to the _forest_, the first place Ganondorf would come looking for it, hit him like a lightning bolt. It had been almost three days since the Deku Tree passed away. Any time now, Ganondorf would return for the stone, expecting his evil parasite Gohma to have taken its toll on the guardian spirit. How much time before that nightmare became real?

Link didn't waste another second wondering about it. He snatched his sword off the table and barreled out into the night, not knowing where it would take him. All he knew was the war against Ganondorf wasn't yet over. And until then, he couldn't rest.

* * *

><p>Tatl lay on the hard marble floor, staring up at the unseen ceiling from whence the fountain's starry falls rained down. The blackness seemed to stretch upward forever and ever…<p>

She turned over, taking care not to bend her wings. She wanted to get some sleep, but she couldn't stop thinking about everything the Great Fairy said. She had been drifting in and out of a restless half-sleep for a few hours now, an uncomfortable mixture of emotions bubbling in her chest. Guilt over Link's predicament, worry for Tael, mad at herself for being so naïve when it came to the entire mask fiasco. She didn't curse or mug anybody directly, of course, but she had helped. And for some stupid reason she still felt responsible for Skull Kid's actions.

Meanwhile, the moon was always drawing closer, even if she couldn't see it. She closed her eyes and focused on the soothing sound of the falling water, trying to shut all her anxieties away and float off into the temporary escape of sleep. But the longer they stayed in the fountain, the worse she felt about lying around doing nothing.

All of the sudden, a high-pitched scream roused her out of the haze between consciousness and sleep. She opened her eyes, the scream still ringing in her ears. Before she had a chance to wonder if it had been real or if she'd heard it in her head, she heard the fountain water stir nearby. Link had woken up and was now making a beeline for the exit, flecks of glittering water dripping off his wooden frame.

"Link?" Tatl said, lifting her head up off the ground, "Where are you going?"

He disappeared into the tunnel without so much as a glance back. Groaning, Tatl dragged herself up off the ground and flew out after him.

When they reached the mouth of the cave, a swift movement on the other side of the park immediately caught Tatl's eye. A familiar figure with a large sack slung over his shoulder was streaking across the lawn at top speed, his bald head gleaming in the moonlight. Further down the main path, The hunched silhouette of an elderly woman cowering in the dirt. It only took a second to piece together what had happened.

Without warning, Link took off after the robber.

"Idiot!" Tatl shouted, bolting alongside him. "Are you completely insane? You can't go up against that guy! He'll throttle you!"

Link didn't listen. He pressed forward, moving to intercept the robber, but the bald man veered to the left long before they met. Tatl stopped flying, giving up the senseless chase. She watched from afar as Link pursued the robber behind a shady cluster of trees. A couple of seconds later the robber reappeared on the other side of the tree line. He was making a break for the North Gate.

"Just let the guard handle it!" Tatl yelled after Link. But just as the words left her mouth, the robber slipped out through the gate, and the guard did absolutely nothing.

Link, out of breath, trudged up to the guard shortly after, only to be blocked from leaving.

"You've gotta be kidding me…" Tatl muttered. She flew over to them.

"It's dangerous at night, so a little kid like you can't go out alone," the guard was telling Link. "You can't pass through here without being accompanied by an adult."

"Did you not see what just happened?" Tatl asked him.

The guard turned his helmeted head in her direction. "Hm? Who said that?"

"I did! Me! The little sparkle ball," Tatl barked impatiently. "You didn't see? There was a robbery just now, right in front of your face! That bald creep that just ran through here put the smack down on some poor old lady and stole her bag!"

"…Oh." The guard looked over his shoulder, into the empty passageway that led out to North Termina Field. "That was a robber?"

Tatl slapped her forehead. "Yes, that was a _robber_. Don't you think you should, I don't know, do your job and get after him?"

"Well, I can't just leave my post, if that's what you're suggesting."

Link turned and plodded off across the grass.

"Why not?" Tatl demanded. "The guard in South helped my friend find his _classmates_ this morning."

"Aaaand he got the sack for leaving the gate unattended. If you think I'm going to risk my job going after some petty thief, you are cra-zay, little fairy," the guard said, rudely wagging a finger at her.

Tatl snorted, pushing his hand away. "You know what? Just forget it."

She turned and flew after Link, following him all the way to the other side of the lawn. He stopped by the playground, near the spot where they had seen the old lady, but no one was there.

"Well, how about that. She's gone. I guess that means she's okay, at least," Tatl said. "You know, that was really stupid, running after that guy like that. You're lucky you didn't get smacked upside the head. For a second there I was really..." _worried, _her mind finished. She exhaled. "Look, Deku Boy. Just don't go doing anything like that again, ok?"

He glared at her out of the corner of his eye.

"Oh, don't give me that look. You should be happy I'm concerned for your safety," she said, yawning. "How are you feeling, by the way? Better?"

He gave her a reluctant nod.

"Thought so. That fountain water's good stuff! Anyways, I asked because I've been thinking...as much as I just love wandering around at night, we need to make the most of the time we have left. You conked out at some point so I don't know how much you heard, but the Great Fairy said we should try using the telescope at the Astral Observatory to look around for Skull Kid. There's just one eency weency problem." She shot a dirty look at the gate guard. "The observatory's outside Clock Town, and there's no way we're getting out as long as these bozos are guarding the gates."

Link looked up at her pointedly.

"What? I'm not going by myself, if that's what you were thinking. It's a wide-open field out there! It doesn't get much more dangerous than that for us fairies. Aside from your usual monsters, there are a ton of things we have to look out for that you humans take for granted. Like high winds, and birds swooping down on us thinking we're _food._" She grimaced, imagining the grisly fate that had claimed the lives of too many unwary fairies.

In her distraction, Link had taken out the map they bought from Tingle and unrolled it. After a few seconds of consideration he turned the map toward her and pointed to something. Tatl flew closer to see what he wanted to show her, lighting up the center of the map with the glow from her body.

"The yellow deku flower!" she exclaimed, a suspicious little smile curving her lips. "You were thinking of using it while he's not around, weren't you?"

"Mmm," he said, scratching his head.

Tatl gave a light laugh. "You know, Link, I think I'm starting to like you. I've seen deku scrubs use those flowers before. I bet it could shoot you right over the town walls."

They hurried over to South Clock Town and sneaked through the line of empty shopping stalls along the west side of the square, approaching the flower as quietly and stealthily as possible. From a distance it appeared to be vacant, but of course, that didn't mean anything. Once they were upon it, Link reached out to touch one of its leaves.

With a rustle of petals the flower's owner poked his head out of the center, beady orange eyes bright against his stark, wooden face. Link immediately snapped his hand away from the flower and used it to scratch at his hair, casually turning around as if he had been checking out the festival tower. Tatl flitted between the two scrubs and put on the sweetest smile she could muster.

"Hey there," she greeted, tipping her head to the deku salesman. "Nice night, isn't it?"

"I suppose so," the scrub answered dryly. He was eyeing Link with an air of suspicion. "I assume you two are here to browse my wares?"

"Um…no, actually," Tatl said.

The scrub narrowed his eyes.

"We were sort of hoping you could help us out with a little dilemma of ours..."

"Hm?" the scrub said, "well, unless that dilemma can be solved by purchasing one of my fine products, I'm afraid I can be of little or no assistance."

"Just hear me out, bud," Tatl said. "Please."

The deku scrub propelled himself the rest of the way out of the flower and folded his arms.

"Ok," she began, "So my friend here really needs to get outside town. Pronto. You know, what with the current state of things." She let her eyes flick up toward the sky for just a moment. "But the guards won't let him out through the gates."

The deku merchant raised an eyebrow.

"So we were hoping he could borrow your flower for a few minutes…?"

"Absolutely not," he said without missing a beat.

"What?!" Tatl exclaimed, a little too forcefully. "Why? He just needs to launch himself over the town walls! What's the harm in that?"

The deku flattened his arms against his body and slid down into the bulky yellow blossom. A few seconds later, he reappeared and whipped out an official-looking document. Tatl had to bite back a sarcastic remark. _Oh, a piece of paper. We're all_ real_ impressed._

"As you can see, I own the title deed to this property," the scrub said, practically shoving the deed in their faces. "It was granted to me by the International Business Scrub Association and designated for my use, and my use only. I'll have you know, it wasn't easy to obtain this spot. Why, it's one of the prime business locations in all of Termina! I had to go through a lot of hoops to get my hands on it, and the last thing I need is this…_novice,_" he flicked a finger in Link's direction, "damaging it."

"Oh, c'mon! He'll be careful," Tatl said. "Can't you just let him use it once? Maybe twice?" she added, recalling Link's latest flying experience.

The scrub shook his head. "One misfire. That's all it takes."

She clasped her hands in front of her. "Please? Just once? Pretty please?" she pouted, batting her eyelashes in an attempt to look endearing. "Then we'll be out of your hair. Promise."

He remained stone-faced.

"Wouldn't you get any satisfaction out of helping someone out?"

"No, I wouldn't."

Tatl exhaled, dropping the gooey façade. "Oh, fine then. If you won't let him use the flower, then how about this…" she said, a new scheme forming in her mind. "Would you consider posing as his parent so he can sneak past the guards? –We'll pay you!" She grinned.

"Hm." The deku merchant twiddled his choppy green leaf mustache, surprisingly considering her alternative request. "That depends. How much do you have on you?" he asked, turning to Link.

"How much do we got, Deku Boy?" asked Tatl.

Link took out the small picking of rupees they had bummed off the streets over the course of the day, cupping them in his hands for the deku merchant to see. The merchant peered down at the glittering green and blue gems, counting them silently.

"…Nine rupees..." he muttered.

"Yep!" said Tatl, "and they're all yours if—"

"Nope. Not worth the risk," the scrub said, turning his nose up at Link's meager pile of rupees. "Although for that price, I'd be willing to sell you a ten-pack of deku nuts. Normally I'd charge ten rupees—"

"We don't want your stinking deku nuts!" Tatl burst out. "We just need—"

Suddenly, a change came over the deku salesman that made Tatl stop short. His snout contracted, and his red-orange eyes sizzled with anger. Clearly, she had pushed a button.

"_Leave,_" he said sharply.

"Look mister, you're being really unreasonable!"

"Go. Get out of my sight. _Now."_

Tatl balled up her fists and lurched toward the deku scrub threateningly. "You wanna know why we asked for your help? You wanna know _why?" _She pointed at Link. "Because he doesn't have any parents, you insensitive jerk!"

The deku merchant glared daggers at her, saying nothing.

Tatl let loose a snort of laughter. "That's right, you heard me. You got a problem with that?"

By this point, Link had put his hand between her and the glowering merchant and had begun to ease her away from him. Knowing a lost cause when she saw one, Tatl let him guide her off, but didn't cease hollering insults over her shoulder.

"Why don't you go back to the swamp and bang some deku sticks together!"

They stopped once they reached the other side of the square.

"I can't believe him!" Tatl growled, swinging around to face Link. "Oh, if only we had Tael with us…he's much better at getting on peoples' good sides than I am. I bet he even could have convinced that asshat to give up his flower for _ten measly minutes!"_ she shrieked in the deku salesman's direction, but he had vanished beneath the blossom. Link gave her a tiresome look. She let out a ragged breath, her throat slightly sore from yelling.

"You're right. Forget him. We need to concentrate on finding another way out of this prison," she said, running a hand through her hair. "Maybe the Bombers will pull through for us," she suggested, starting to feel desperate. "Who knows? Maybe they spotted Skull Kid while were running all over the place looking for the—wait a minute…those _Bombers!_"

Link jerked in surprise.

"Remember how that one kid gave the mayor a letter from the astronomer?"

A pause, and then he nodded, seeming to catch on.

Tatl narrowed her eyes. "Surely those brats aren't allowed to pass through the town gates by themselves. So how did he get all the way to the observatory, I wonder?" she mused. "Get the map."

Link took out Tingle's map again and spread it across the pavement, holding down the curling edges with his hands. Tatl landed on the broad scroll of parchment paper, illuminating it, and padded across the miniature ink Clock Town to the sector containing the Mayor's Residence.

"Let's see. We met those kids right around here, by that little alley they were being all secretive around. And hey, what do you know!" She pointed to a circular, star-patterned building hovering east of Clock Town, like an island. "The astronomy dome is straight out from this spot! Curious. Very curious," she said, rubbing her chin. She looked up at Link. "If I had to take a guess, I'd say the Bombers have their hideout over at the observatory. What do you think, Link?"

He grunted an agreement.

Tatl laughed diabolically. "Well then, I guess we'll have to interrogate those brats tomorrow morning. Make that today," she corrected herself, seeing as it was almost 3:00 AM. Her lips curled into her trademark smirk.

"Should be fun."


	8. Secret Society of Justice

**-o-o-o-o-o-**

~MASQUERADE~

**Chapter 6: Secret Society of Justice**

**-o-o-o-o-o-**

As the minutes ticked by the sky grew lighter and lighter, and the slow-revolving lighthouse beacon faded into the gray dawn. The new day was overcast, the rising sun obscured behind a layer of dark, hazy clouds that were rolling in from the East. Those clouds could only mean one thing: rain. And Tatl hated the rain. She scowled at the approaching clouds, willing them to shrink back over the horizon, but they only crept closer.**  
><strong>

She and Link were waiting at the mouth of the Great Fairy's Cave for Jim to show up at his usual hangout. Link sat with his legs hanging over the ledge, resting his over-sized head on his shoulder. The fountain water had done an improvement on his bruised skin, but he still looked really groggy. Tatl glanced up at the clock tower every so often, growing more impatient by the minute. 5:45. 6:00. 6:15.

Finally, around 6:30, the leader of the Bombers moseyed through the park's southern entrance, blowgun and backpack in tow. Tatl and Link exchanged a look and started down the slope to meet him. Jim made his way to the center of the park, where a giant purple balloon was gently bobbing on the end of a long string. He knelt on the ground beneath it and started rummaging through his backpack. When Tatl and Link neared him, he spared a short glance up from his work and acknowledged them each with a bored nod.

"'Morning, Tatl," he greeted nonchalantly. "Shrimp."

"Good morning, Jim," Tatl returned with just as much enthusiasm. She cut straight to the chase. "We heard about your secret hideout at the observatory."

"What?!" Jim snapped, leaping to his feet. "Who told you?!"

Tatl smirked. "You did. Just now."

"Grrrr, Tatl! You think you're so clever..." he grumbled. "Oh well. It's not like half the town doesn't already know. No one can seem to keep their mouths shut around here."

He took a couple steps back and shot a pellet from his blowgun. It sailed through the air just shy of grazing the balloon and fell back down to the grass. Jim mumbled something about "just warming up" and started to prepare another shot.

Tatl stared at him in in disbelief. "Um, Jim? We're still here!"

He turned and gave her an annoyed look, as if she were the one wasting _his_ time.

"Look," Tatl sighed, "me and my friend really need to get to the Astral Observatory. We know you have some secret way of getting there, and we want _in._"

"The guards won't let you out?" Jim asked, squinting back up at the balloon.

"Um, no," Tatl said, growing impatient. "If they did, do you think I would be wasting my time with you?" Link gave her a cautionary glance.

Jim took another shot at the balloon and missed again. He growled under his breath, frustrated. "Sorry, can't help you with that."

"And, just why not?"

Jim exhaled. "Well, to get into the secret hideout, you need to be a member of the Bombers."

Annoyance pricked at Tatl's insides. "Okay. Then how do we become members?"

"You don't," replied Jim.

Tatl just stared at him blankly.

"Only humans are allowed to join the Bombers. That means no fairies, no deku scrubs—"

"That's not fair!"

Jim shrugged. "Hey, don't blame me. You can thank your buddy Skull Kid for that. We've been real picky about new members ever since he pulled that funny business a couple months back."

Tatl snorted. _Thanks a lot Skull Kid. Thanks for everything._ "Listen, we don't want to be members and we don't want to mess around in your precious hideout. We just need to use your passage to get to the observatory! Is that so much to ask?"

"Sorry. Those are the rules."

"_You_ made the rules, didn't you?"

"Yep."

"Well, your rules stink!" Tatl spat. "You know what you're doing, Jim? You're being discriminatory! You're lucky I don't report you."

Jim just laughed. "Go right ahead."

"I will."

The boy shrugged, looking quite unconcerned, and bent down to collect his blowgun pellets.

Tatl started toward the east park exit. "I'm going to the town hall, Jim."

No reaction.

"Did you hear me?!" she yelled, "I'm going to run your little organization into the ground!"

A flash of movement from below caught her eye. Link had tagged along behind her. **  
><strong>

"What? Like you have any better ideas," she snapped at him. She shot another scathing glare at Jim's back. "Grrrr, I wish I could pop that stupid balloon!"

Link's eyes brightened at her suggestion, and Tatl could practically see the gears begin turning in his mind. He reached into his pocket and took out a small object—the deku nut he had found in the park yesterday. Hesitantly, he tilted his head back and dropped it down his snout.

"Whoa, there. You sure you know what you're doing, Deku Boy?" Tatl said. "I mean, I'm all for ruining Jim's fun, but those things are explosive, you know."

Just as she said so, Link's stomach convulsed. He made a nasty hacking noise in his throat and coughed the nut back up. It plopped into his hand, now slathered in some sort of thin nectar-like film.

"Eeeew!" Tatl grimaced in disgust. "Look, Link. Maybe you shouldn't—"

But he had already started to jam it back into his mouth again.

"Okay, fine. Don't listen to me. Blow your head off for all I care," she scoffed. "Ohhh, I can't watch this."

She turned and fluttered a safe distance away. But her curiosity got the best of her and she peeked around at him. She wanted to see if he could actually hit it.

With the deku nut loaded into his snout, Link angled his head upward, concentrating on the balloon. After a few moments of observation, he spit the nut out. It flew through the air with little momentum and dropped to the ground just a few yards away.

"Wow, it didn't explode. Maybe it's a dud," Tatl said, flying as near to the nut as she dared. She looked up at the balloon. "Your aim actually wasn't too bad. There just wasn't enough power behind it."

Link padded over to the fallen nut and picked it up for another go. Tatl was surprised he was so determined to go through with this little prank of hers. She supposed he was as fed up as her by now, considering all they had been through. But who knew what went on in the kid's head.

Link took in a large gulp of air and reloaded the nut. Carefully, he took aim at the balloon again. In a flash, the nut shot through the air like a bullet and smacked into its target.

_Bang!_

The balloon burst, sending a sharp explosion ringing through the park. All three of them gave a start. Birds flew up from surrounding trees. Jim looked around in confusion as smoking balloon particles rained down on him. Slowly, he twisted his neck around and stared at Link, his mouth agape. But he recovered quickly.

"Did you pop my balloon?!" he roared, stomping in their direction.

Tatl bit her lip. "Uh oh. Um, Deku Boy?" she whispered, tugging on the end of his green hat. "_Run._"

Jim was up in Link's face in seconds, trying to intimidate him. But Link just glared right back, refusing to budge from his spot. Tatl remained frozen, convinced that one of the boys was going to smack the other and start a physical fight. But then to her astonishment, a smile broke out across Jim's face.

"Not too bad. For a deku scrub kid," he chuckled.

Link blinked at him in surprise. Jim walked in a little circle around the scrub, looking mildly amused.

"Hmm. You're pretty tough, aren't you?" he muttered, "Can you run fast?"

Link gave a small nod.

Jim's eyes glinted with approval. "You know what? Maybe you and I can strike up a little deal," he rubbed his chin. "Sounds like you want to get to the observatory real badly."

"No, really?" muttered Tatl.

Jim ignored her. "We Bombers have a secret code we use to get to our hideout over there. Maybe I'll tell you what it is…"

Link's eyes widened with curiosity.

"…but don't think you're getting it that easily! I can't just _tell_ you what the code is. You'll have to pass my test first."

"A test?" Tatl narrowed her eyes in suspicion. "Fine. What's it gonna be?"

"I haven't figured that out yet," Jim yawned. "I'll have to consult my subordinates."

Tatl rolled her eyes. With a flick of his wrist, Jim snapped the whistle hanging around his neck up to his face and blew it. A couple seconds later another whistle sounded to the east, and then another from further away, setting off a little chain of signal calls.

Within a few minutes, two blue heads raced through the east entrance. They were the two bombers from yesterday, Number Four and Number Five, the latter's clunky red camera bouncing off his chest as they ran. They skidded to a halt in front of Jim, who couldn't have looked more unimpressed if he had tried.

"Jim!" Four exclaimed, trying to catch his breath. "You…you called?"

"Why did you want us, Jim? Why?" asked Five.

"I'll tell you what's up once everyone's here," Jim said, twirling his whistle lazily. "I don't feel like explaining twice."

"Does somebody need our help?" Five blurted out. "Does anybody have any problems? Did somebody break into the super secret hideout?!"

"Shhh!" Four hissed. He elbowed Five in the chest and threw a pointed look in Link's direction. Five realized his mistake and clapped his hands over his mouth.

Jim sighed impatiently. "Calm down. They already found out."

Five's eyes darted between Jim and Link. He leaned toward Four and said in a hushed voice, "How did they…?"

"They must have been spying on us," whispered Four.

"You two!" said Tatl. The two blue Bombers snapped their heads in her direction. "We were hoping we'd run into you. Would either of you happened to have seen—"

"Skull Kid?" said Four. "No, not yet."

"What about you?" she asked Number Five. "Let's see the pictures you got."

Five took a bunch of photos out of his pocket and held them out to her like a fan of cards.

"Hm," said Tatl, drifting close to the photos. "A bush, another bush, a squirrel, your foot, some more bushes, ...Tingle."

And then she realized how truly hopeless they were, banking on the Bombers.

"There they are!" Four shouted. He raised up an arm and waved at the two remaining members of Jim's little posse approaching from the south entrance. One lagged a little ways behind the other, hauling an overstuffed sack over each of his shoulders.**  
><strong>

"Sorry _I'm_ late, Jim," said the first Bomber to reach them. He pointed over his shoulder at the straggler. "I had drag _him_ all the way across West."

With some effort, the second bomber shuffled the rest of the way over to the group and carelessly slammed his luggage on the ground at Jim's feet. He bent down, revealing a number '2' stitched onto the back of his polo shirt, and began untying one of the sacks.

"Wait 'til you see what I got, Jim," he said, his voice trembling with excitement. "They were having a sale!"

When he loosed the string, a bunch of red, cylindrical objects came spilling out of the bag onto the grass.**  
><strong>

"Hm." Jim looked over the bag's contents, nodding his approval. "Good work."

Tatl squinted at the little rockets, not quite believing what she was seeing. "Wait a minute...are those _fireworks?!_" she dared to ask, hoping she was horribly, horribly wrong. "Where did you—How did you…?! What kind of freak would sell you-"

Number Two cut her off with a loud laugh. "Well, they don't call us 'The Bombers' for nothin'"

Tatl just stared in amazement at the boys, the bags of explosives, and back again. "Wh…what is it with you brats, running amok all the time?" she stammered. "Don't you have school or something?"

"Nope!" Four volunteered, beaming. "We're always off the week of the carnival!"

"Don't you have anything better to do than sitting around burning things?"

"Nope."

"So, Jim," Number Three said, all business, "you called a meeting?"

"Oh. Yeah," Jim said, suddenly remembering the reason they were all gathered together in the first place. He pointed a finger at Link, who had been tentatively lingering at the edge of the group the entire time. "This deku kid wants to use our secret passage to get to the observatory."

The two new Bombers looked at Link with so much abhorrence it even made Tatl shrivel up a little inside.**  
><strong>

"It wasn't me! I didn't tell him, Jim!" Number Three burst out.** "**Who told him? Who did it? Huh?" he demanded, throwing accusing looks around at the other Bombers.

Two put his hands up defensively. "Hey, don't look at me."

Jim sighed, burying his face in his hands. "It doesn't matter how they found out. The point is—"

"—no scrubs!_" _Number Three finished for him. "Remember that freak Skull Kid? We got standards for a reason."

"Wait!" said Number Four, turning to Link. "You want to go there to look for Skull Kid right?"

The deku scrub nodded.

"I don't know guys…maybe we should let him in."

Number Three gave a snort of laughter. "You can't be serious. "

"Uh, yeah, I don't think so," said Number Two. "Let one pansy in, and before you know it, the whole place will be crawling with 'em."

"But I already put him in my notebook," Four said. He flipped through his notebook and showed the other Bombers the page in question. "We made a promise to help him, and the rules say Bombers can never break promises!"

"Yeah!" said Five, "We need to get him to the hideout so he can find Skull Kid!"

"No! No scrubs allowed in the hideout!"

A shrill whistle cut through the Bombers' bickering.

"Everyone shut up!" ordered Jim. "Shut up and line up!"

The Bombers all froze on the spot and stared at Jim with wide eyes. Then without a word, they promptly formed a line. Apparently, Jim meant business.

"I'm the oldest, so I'm the one who's calling the shots around here," he said haughtily. "I'm already nine years old! How many of you can say that?" He passed his scrutinizing gaze over each of his lackeys, who in turn, averted their eyes to the ground. "That's right. None of you."

Jim folded his hands behind his back and strode down the row of Bombers. "I already decided to let him into our hideout. On one condition, that is." He paused and peered at Link out of the corner of his eye. "He has to play a little game with us."

The other Bombers seemed to perk up at the mention of a "game." Number Two was creepily staring Link down as if he were some sort of tasty meal.

Jim turned to Link and crossed his arms. "You win the game, you get the code. Simple as that. If you lose, well," he shrugged, "too bad for you. To win, you have to beat us all at hide-and-seek!"

"…hide-and-seek." echoed Tatl.

Jim nodded. "Yep. Got a problem with that, Tats?"

Tatl flew up in Jim's face. "Look here, you. First of all, it's not _Tats,_" she said testily. She thrust a finger at his nose. "It's Tah-tol. My name is _Tah-tol!_ Get it right. Second, hide-and-seek? Really? Hide and seek?! What the hell, Jim! I don't you if you noticed but, um, the moon is falling!"

"So?" Jim smirked. "It's not like we're going to let a big old' rock stop us from having some fun."

"You're not hearing me, Jim. The moon is falling!" She waved her hand up at the sky furiously. "The moon is falling and you want to waste our time making us play stupid games with you?!"

"Pretty much."

"Are you nuts? Are you out of your mind?" She turned to face Link. "He's nuts! You agree, don't you? We don't have time for this!"

Link looked up at her warily and gave her a tiny headshake.

Tatl let out an exasperated breath. "Oh c'mon, kid. Just back me up for once."

"You have to catch all five of us by nightfall if you want the code," Jim continued, turning his attention back to Link. "To make it fair, we won't hide indoors; we'll all be outside somewhere."

Tatl opened her mouth to ask a question, but Jim abruptly cut her off, "—and _he_ has to be the one to catch us. Not you." He pointed at the clump of trees in the corner of the park. "Now, go over there and count to sixty while we all hide."

Link gave Tatl another dull look, a look that screamed, _just go with it_, and started off toward the tree. If anything, that just made her want to do it less.

Jim cocked an eyebrow when she didn't make a move to follow him. "That means you too, fairy. No cheating."

"Yeah, Tats! No cheating!" said one of the other Bombers.

In a sudden fit of anger, Tatl stuck out her tongue at the boys, but this only succeeded in provoking an outbreak of giggles. She whipped around angrily and followed Link. When they reached the trees, Jim blew his whistle again and they heard the Bombers dash off across the grass in different directions.

"Tats? Seriously? Tats?" Tatl grumbled, staring down the grey tree trunk in front of their faces. She was so irritated she could have bored a hole through it with her gaze. "Tattle's fine. Tay-tol's ok. Whatever. I'm not real picky about how my name is pronounced. But. _Tats?_" she squeaked. "What do I look like, some kind of wand wavin', prissy pink-wings healing fairy to you?!"

Link just offered her an indifferent shrug. Tatl pretended it was an agreement.

"I can't believe we have to play these brats' stupid games," she scoffed. "I mean, hide and seek? In this town? Do you know how many places there are to hide? We could be at this all day long!" She turned and took a peek around the park. One of the smaller bombers was hanging around the playground. "Let's just go. There's one right over there!"

When they drew closer to the Bomber, they saw it was Number Five. He was sneaking through the bushes, snapping pictures at random. Link dropped into a crouch and they crept toward the unaware boy. Just when they were almost upon him, he just happened to point his camera lens in Link's direction.

"Uh oh!" he squealed. He dropped his pictograph and ran—straight toward the town wall. In a single burst of speed, Link easily cornered him and tagged him on the shoulder. The chase was over in seconds.

"Oh, you got me! Now there are only four left!" the Bomber giggled, not sounding all that disappointed. Suddenly, his eyes darted past them and went wide. "A keaton! A keaton!"

"What?" Tatl said. She and Link spun around.

There was nothing there.

"A keaton…? You mean a spirit fox?" she snorted. "Yeah, right. I'm a little magical _fairy_ and I've never seen one in my life."

"They're the ones makin' the bushes move. I know it!" Five said, jumping up and down excitedly. "I'm gonna get a picture of one and I'm gonna prove they exist!"

"Yeah, you do that, kid," she said, rolling her eyes. "Just remember we _got _you. You're done. You're out of the game." She turned back to her deku scrub partner.

"C'mon Link, let's go find the rest of these little freaks."

**-o-o-o-o-o-**

**A/N:** So, how in the world did a whole freaking chapter get devoted to this scene? I don't know. I really don't. I just wrote and wrote and the next thing I knew the chapter was over 20 pages long and I had to cut it up. A little on the short side, I know, but this just seemed like the best place for a scene break. I've made some decent leeway on the next chapter, so expect another update before my Christmas Break is up, sometime in the first week of January or so. I'm saying this more for myself than for you guys, of course, because when I tell other people I'm going to do something I'm more likely to hold myself to it!**  
><strong>


	9. Running in Circles

**-o-o-o-o-o-**

~MASQUERADE~

**Chapter 7: Running in Circles**

**-o-o-o-o-o-**

"C'mon, you call that running? You're going to have to go faster than that if you want to catch those little punks! Faster! Go faster!"

Link pushed himself to run faster, trying to keep up with Tatl as she led him through the winding streets of Clock Town. She zipped around corners and darted down side streets, forcing him to stay close, lest he lose sight of her. She sure wasn't going to risk missing an opportunity to catch one of those Bombers.

"Faster! Push those stumpy little legs to the limit!" she hounded him, but he was rapidly falling behind. Overcome with exhaustion, he teetered to a stop and slumped forward, resting his hands on his knees. His breath passed in and out of his snout as a soft whistle.

"Well. That was pretty pathetic," she said, flying back to meet him. He threw her a look, albeit a rather weak one. "Oh, don't get your pants in a bunch, kid. It just means we'll have just have to resort to cheating. No worries, I'm an expert."

Link lifted his arms and waved at their surroundings.

"Huh? What's that?"

He made the motion again.

"Where are we?"

He nodded in confirmation, still trying to catch his breath. Tatl took a look around to check where they were, but she didn't recognize the street they were on. "…Huh. I don't know. But if we keep going west, we'll eventually get to West Clock Town!" She grinned. "So, why don't we check there next? We can get something to eat while we're over there too."

After one more long inhale and exhale, he stood up straight and looked to her to lead the way, as she expected. The kid was probably famished by now, and he would need some food if he was going to be chasing the Bombers around town all day. Plus she was rather in the mood for something to eat herself.

They traveled a few more blocks and made it to West, Clock Town's main shopping hub. It was the smallest section of town, comprised of a downward sloping, covered market lined by a strip mall. Upon turning the corner onto the main strip, Link immediately gravitated toward the swordsman school to observe the blades glinting in the front windows. Rows of long, curved swords; pairs of short, lethal-looking daggers; all kinds of sharp, pointy weapons Tatl had no names for.

She had always figured Link had been some kind of swordsmen before…the incident. But now, looking at him, the image just didn't add up. She couldn't help let out a small laugh when she pictured the shrimpy deku scrub trying to handle a blade twice his as big as he was. Link turned from the window and gave her a questioning look.

"Nothing. It's nothing," she lied.

West's outdoor market was active, but unusually sparse. Many farmers had not turned up, leaving large gaps between shopping stands. Even fewer shoppers than stand owners walked among them, occasionally pausing to sample the fresh produce. It wasn't long before Tatl and Link caught a whiff of something delicious. Link breathed in deeply, as if to taste the air with his snout. He quickly singled out the stand the inviting aroma was emanating from, one with a decadent-looking spread of fresh baked bread and pastries. There was something for everyone; goron muffins sprinkled with rocks, zoran crescents stuffed with seaweed, honey-drizzled rolls that were apparently popular with deku scrubs. They used eight of their nine rupees to buy a couple of the rolls and a shiny red apple and sat down on a low bench to indulge in their breakfast. Link began scraping at the apple and stuffing tiny pieces of it into his hollow mouth. Tatl lingered at his side for a few minutes as he ate, eyeing the rolls hungrily. When she couldn't stand it anymore, she leaned over and stole away with a few crumbs. Link peered down at her with curiosity.

"What's with you?" she said, popping a crumb into her mouth. "Never seen a fairy eat before?"

He gave her and idle shrug and went back to eating his food. Maybe it was because she was so used to always having her brother around to talk to, but his constant silence was beginning to wear on her nerves.

"Ever the talkative one, aren't you?" she sighed. "You know, I can't believe you still can't talk. You've been a deku scrub for how long now? Almost a day and a half? You could at least try to speak. Go on. Try saying 'apple.'"

Link looked down at the fruit in his hand thoughtfully, but didn't make an attempt at talking.

"I won't laugh at you," Tatl rolled her eyes. "Go ahead. Say apple."

He scrunched up his eyes in concentration, giving the apple a hard stare. "Aaahl."

Tatl pursed her lips. "I think maybe you're trying to talk too much like you would when you were a human. You're forgetting you don't have lips anymore. Or a tongue…do deku scrubs have tongues?" She wasn't positive. Actually, she had never once thought about that in her life until now. "Well, I'm guessing you don't. Try speaking more from your throat or something. It seems like dekus make the sound in their throat somehow."

"…Aah-ol."

"Hm. Maybe it's not that simple." She wracked her brain for another approach, but no bright ideas came to her.

"Aah-ol," Link tried again. "Aaool."

"Okay. On second thought, stop. Just…shut up. If I have to listen to that nonsense the rest of my time with you, I think I'll go insane," she said, going for another breadcrumb. At that moment she felt something wet land on her head. She looked up at the sky and saw that the dark clouds had overtaken almost half the sky. Any minute now, raindrops would be dropping from those clouds like bombs.

"Oh _no_, I hate getting wet!" she whined. She hopped off the bench and hovered in front of Link's face so he had to cross his eyes to see her. "It's cold and icky and I can barely fly with all the heavy rain drops pounding me down and ohhh," she inched toward his hat, "you understand, don't you?"

Silence.

"Good. Then I'll just be hiding out in here," she said, zipping inside his hat without giving him a chance refuse. Not that his opinion mattered. It was _raining_, and it was only getting heavier by the second. Shoppers flung hoods over their heads and took cover inside shops. Vendors who were too dumb to set up under the straw market cover rushed to throw table clothes and blankets over their stands to shield their hard-earned produce from the rain. Sheets of water slid off rooftops and ran down the sloped road, forming a miniature river. Suddenly, the bell to the post office door jingled and out came the postman himself, bright red mailbag in tow. He hesitated in the doorway for a split second when he saw the road conditions, gripping the doorknob tightly. But then he pressed his lips together into a look of determination that much resembled a constipated frown and charged out into the downpour in his short shorts and sandals like it was nothing.

"Goddesses. Someone ought to get the postman some pants," Tatl remarked as the skinny man dashed by. Link hopped down off the bench and followed in his trail of water ripples, nibbling on his last roll. He angled his head up toward the sky as if to welcome the falling rain, his eyelids drooping ever so slightly. He was spacing out again, she was sure of it. She prodded him in the side of the head.

"Hey Deku Boy, snap out of it. We still have to keep a look out for the brats in blue hats, remember? So do us a favor and keep your eyes open!"

"Hey there, little guy! How would you like to create a savings account?"

Link lethargically turned toward the voice that had called out to him. A slim redhead with a black cap over their eyes waved at him from a sketchy-looking stall nearby. Leaning against the stall was a large sign that, interestingly enough, read "BANK".

"Won't you deposit some rupees?" the banker asked.

When Link hesitated to decline the offer, Tatl coughed in his ear. "Ignore her—er, him. Don't make eye contact."

"If you make a deposit with us, you gain interest with time," said the banker, motioning to the gigantic vault behind him. "Do you know what that means, little guy? That means you'd be _making_ money! So, whaddya' say? Wanna give me some rupees?"

"Keep_ moving_," Tatl hissed.

After another brief moment of uncertainty, Link followed her instructions and passed the bank stall over.

"Nowadays, even if people have money, they don't deposit any," the banker yelled after them. "Nothing! Nothing!"

Tatl had just about had it. She stuck her head outside and shouted, "We don't have any rupees!"

"You just used money to buy that bread!"

"Duh. That's why we_ don't have any rupees!_" she shot back. Link winced. She was about to apologize for screaming in his ear, but then she felt a twinge of annoyance. Who was he to dictate how she should behave? She'd scream whenever and at whomever she darned well wanted.

"Who does he think he is, trying to make an example of you like that?" she growled. "The nerve!"

Just then, Link came to a sudden stop. Tatl turned her attention back to the road and immediately saw why. A Bomber was just standing out in the open a couple stalls down, his hands resting in his pockets ever so inconspicuously.

"Hey, deku scrub," he said, giving a little wave. A devilish grin slid across his freckled face. "Here I am. Why don't you come and get me?"

Link lunged toward the Bomber.

"Wait!" Tatl yanked on one of his hairs. He reeled back, letting out an agitated squeak. "Don't just run at him, dummy! Can't you see he's up to something?" She leaned forward, scrutinizing the Bomber. What was he hiding?

Link tensed his body and went alert. For a few seconds, nothing happened. The Bomber didn't move. Link didn't move. They just remained frozen in their spots, staring each other down. Then suddenly, something exploded halfway between the two boys, spewing the surrounding street with dark green sludge.

A putrid smell like rotting fish instantly filled the air. Tatl covered her nose and mouth, gagging, as screams and wails went up throughout the market. Next thing she knew, the Bomber was fleeing the scene and Link was bolting after him, avoiding the gunk from the stink bomb as best as he possibly could. She held onto Link tight with one hand and kept her nose pinched shut with the other, trying to keep tabs on their target, but the nasty smell was making her eyes burn. Through the chaos, she could just make out a number '2' disappearing around a corner, into a narrow space between two buildings.**  
><strong>

Just as Link was about to round the corner, something smacked into them full force. Tatl screamed as they fell backwards and hit ground. She struggled out into the air to see Two lying flat on his back, his chest heaving. He had doubled back and collided with Link.**  
><strong>

"G…guards…!" the Bomber panted.

Scrambling to his feet, Link yanked the boy up by the arm and dragged him through the nearest doorway, slamming the door shut behind them. Once inside, Tatl flew out of Link's hat to get her bearings. They appeared to be inside some quaint little general store, with a man-made stream cutting through the center of the room. A small, wooden bridge arched over the stream,and orange-and-black speckled koi fish glided along just beneath the surface of the clear water. Link and Two dove underneath a fishing rod display in the corner of the room and collapsed on the floor, gasping for air. Two's hyperventilating quickly turned into peals of laughter.

"Would you shut up?" Tatl snapped. Guards were running back and forth right outside the windows, looking for the stink bomb culprit. And to make matters worse, they weren't exactly alone inside the store. Tatl kept one wary eye on the clerk at the back of the room, a stocky man with a full head of wiry brown hair and a mini mustache and goatee combo that seemed to be all the rage with middle-aged men these days. Luckily, he was preoccupied with organizing the shelves and had yet to notice them hiding in the corner.

Tatl hunkered down close to the floor and whispered sharply, "don't come out of there. You understand me?! Stay down and keep your mouths shut-_it's not that funny!_" she snarled when Two started up his maniacal giggling again. "What are you, some kind of raving lunatic?! Get a grip!"

"What? Kids?!" The owner of the shop turned his round, blue eyes on them**.** "You can't play in here!"

Tatl cringed. He was so _loud. _She did a fast double take between the man and the window**.** The guards seemed to be regrouping to take their search elsewhere.

"This ain't no playground!" the shopkeeper said, scratching at one of his sideburns. "Kids hafta play outside, I kid you not."

Without warning, the two boys burst out from under the fishing display. One of them banged his head on the underside of the table, upsetting the tools that had been so carefully arranged on top. In one swift movement, Tatl slipped back into Link's cap just as he crashed out the doorway after Two, making a cringe-inducing exclamation point on the end of their already messy exit. They stumbled outside and ran in the opposite direction of the guards, the shopkeeper hollering expletives after them.

"Nice going, genius. _Real_ smooth," Tatl scolded Number Two once they were good and far away from the scene of the crime. "You could have gotten us all arrested!"

"That was wicked, deku kid!" Two screeched under his breath, blatantly ignoring Tatl. He punched Link in the shoulder playfully.

She let out an exasperated groan, burying her face in her hands. "Fine. Ignore me. I give up."

"If you hadn't braved my stink bombs, I would've gotten caught by those guards!" Two went on animatedly. "And here I thought you looked like a total pansy."

Link's eyes went to the pouch strapped around Number Two's waist; it was overflowing with deku nuts. He took his last rupee out of his pocket and offered it to the Bomber.

Number Two gave him a puzzled look. "Heh?"

"I think he wants to buy a deku nut off you," Tatl told him.

"Oh! Right," the Bomber grinned. "That's ok, you can just have some for free!" He dumped five of them in Link's hands, and then his eyes grew wide and insane. "The more explosions the better."

Tatl and Link both recoiled a little bit.

"You want anything else?" the madly grinning Bomber asked. "I got the whole shibang. Firecrackers, sparklers, smoke balls, and—ooohh," He flashed a little canister filled with dark-green liquid. "I still have one stink bomb left!"

Tatl exchanged a look with Link. "Uh…I think we're good."

"Eh? Ok! More for me, then," he chirped. He gave Link a hard slap on the back that almost knocked him over. "See you later, deku kid!"

The Bomber zoomed off down the alleyway and out of sight. Once he was long gone, they found their way back to the main street, thanks Tatl's intuitive sense of direction and Link's acute sense of smell. The air still reeked from Two's stink bombs, and the rain was only making things worse. Swirls of green stink juice mingled with rain puddles and washed down the road in dark, putrid stripes. Even after they'd walked the rest of the way down the market, Tatl could still smell it. She grabbed a little bit of fabric from Link's cap and blew her nose in an attempt to expel the nasty stench from her nostrils. Link flinched at the sudden sound.

"Don't judge me."**  
><strong>

They followed the main thoroughfare all the way back to South Clock Town. The first thing that alerted Tatl to their whereabouts was a gruff man's voice shouting relentlessly over the downpour. "Is that Mutoh out there?" she said, taking a peek outside. Sure enough, Mutoh was screaming at a pair of heavy carpenters who were trying to hold down a rickety old scaffolding. A third carpenter stood on top of it, trying to nail a wooden beam in place and blissfully unaware of the shenanigans going on on the ground. The whole thing looked like a disaster waiting to happen.

"Jeez, they're persistent," Tatl sniffed. "I guess this means the mayor hasn't ordered an evacuation yet…"

Looking out at the drab, rainy square, she couldn't help but feel more than a little dispirited. Decorations had fallen down and blown away, no one bothering to put them back up. House windows that would normally be alight on an awful day like this were dark and fogged over, their blinds drawn. Tatl shivered. The cold rain was starting to soak through the lining of Link's cap and get her soggy.

"Well, Deku Boy, you're on your own from now on," she said, retreating further back into the hat to find a dryer resting place.

He stopped walking.

"…What's wrong? Don't tell me you don't know your way around by now. It's nothing but a big loop! Just keep running in circles and you're bound to find one of those brats eventually. I'll come out and help you once it stops raining."

After a few seconds pause Link kept going without complaint, but she thought she could sense his annoyance.

"Hey, this was what you wanted. This was all you. I was going to try and cut us another deal, but no. You had to settle for _this_,_"_ she yawned. "Did I actually say this was going to be fun? Because it's not. This is _not _fu—_watch where you're going!_"

Tatl grabbed a fistful of cloth and held on for dear life as Link lurched sideways unexpectedly, eliciting a small yelp from whomever he carelessly ran into. He staggered a couple steps before regaining his balance.

"What's your problem?!" Tatl spat, trying to free herself from his mess of yellow hair.

"Ahh! I'm so sorry! I didn't see you down there!" cried a familiar voice. "Are you okay, Mr. Scrub?" A sigh of relief, "That's good. I'm terribly sorry, I really must pay better attention to where I'm going. I ran over a dog the other day too…"

Tatl clambered of the hat and found herself gazing up at the overly-apologetic receptionist they met at Stock Pot Inn yesterday. To her surprise, the lady's hair and clothes were completely dry. It was then that she noticed the dainty little umbrella resting on her shoulder.

"Oh, thank you so much!" Tatl exclaimed, flying into the precious pocket of dry air beneath the umbrella. She buzzed her wings rapidly to shake off the condensation that had collected on them. "You brought this all the way out here just for me, didn't you?"

The inn receptionist gave her a bemused look, but didn't object to sharing her umbrella. "So…how have you been, Mr. Scrub?" she asked, turning to Link. She was smiling, but everything else about her, from her stooped posture to her pale face, seemed devoid of any cheer. "Usually I'm terrible at remembering faces, but for some reason I remembered yours."

Unable to speak, Link merely blinked up at her with his gloomy orange eyes.

Her expression softened. "Do scrubs feel sad on rainy days, too? Oh—but," she shook her head, "deku scrubs are supposed to like rain, right? I forgot." She let out a heavy sigh, her gaze growing distant. "At least one of us has a reason to be happy…"

Tatl rolled her eyes. When people went around acting all depressed she never humored them by asking what was wrong…unless she actually cared, that is. But more often then not, she didn't.

The woman looked back down at Link, a hollow smile on her lips. "I need to be happier, don't I?"

Her somber expression turned to one of puzzlement when Link didn't answer. He offered her a little head tilt in response, but she was still staring at him, waiting for him to say something.

"Oh, don't mind him," Tatl spoke up, running her fingers through her wet hair in an attempt to comb some of the knots out. "He just gets really shy around pretty girls."

Link abruptly looked away. If he weren't made of wood, he probably would have been blushing furiously. Tatl smirked to herself.

The woman forced a laugh. "Well, that explains it. How cute."

"More like annoying."

The inn keeper just smiled awkwardly, shaking her head. Suddenly, her eyes lit up. "Oh, I meant to ask," she said, looking to Tatl, "did you two manage to find a place to stay yesterday?"

"Are you kidding?" Tatl said sharply, unable to contain herself. "We slept in the park like a couple of bums!"

The woman's eyes widened. "Oh my goodness! Y-you did?!" she stammered, covering her mouth in surprise. "That's…I…I feel so bad!"

"And you should," said Tatl. Link shot her a look, but she pretended not to notice. "Not a single hotel in town would even spare an empty closet for poor little Deku Boy."

"Aww," the woman cooed. She was gazing down at little homeless Link with a look of genuine pity on her face. "I wish there were some way I could help…um...say, Mr. Scrub, how about this. Would you like to come by the inn for dinner later?"

"Mm?" Link squeaked, seeming a little taken aback by this sudden offer.

"It'll be no trouble," she assured him, twirling her umbrella absentmindedly. "I make dinner for my grandmother every night anyway. It's the least I can do to…to make your stay in Clock Town a little more bearable," she shrugged. "Is 6 o' clock all right?"

A reluctant pause, and then Link averted his eyes and gave her a timid nod. Even he couldn't deny free food.

The innkeeper uttered a small laugh, a real one this time. "Okay. 6 o' clock it is, then," she said, giving him a little pat on the head. Link kept his eyes on his feet. "See you later, Mr. Scrub…"

She stepped around Link and continued on her way down the road, her heels clicking against the sidewalk. Link turned around and stared after her for a long moment, until her silhouette faded behind a curtain of rain.

Tatl started to work her way back into his hat, peeling the soaked fabric away from his face. "Ugh, disgusting."

He gave her an odd sideways glance.

"What?" she snapped. "I don't know if you noticed, but I just scored us a free meal! You should be _thanking_ me. It's called Survival 101: taking advantage of random strangers. Me and Tael do it all the time."

Link turned his gaze back in the direction the woman had gone. A knowing smirk crossed Tatl's face. "Ooohh, I get it. You're just mad because I embarrassed you in front of the pretty lady, aren't you? Aren't you?"

Link blinked at her, looking a bit flustered. He stomped his foot and shook his head at the ground, fuming quietly.

"I'll take that as a yes," she chuckled, slipping back into his cap. "Well, get over it kid! We'll probably never see her again after today anyway."

And so, the cold, wet, muggy day wore on. Tatl lounged around in the soggy folds of Link's hat for who knew how long, occasionally suggesting places to look. The Clock Tower's bells signaled each passing hour as they looped around the entire town again and again, scouring the streets for signs of Bomber activity. Finally, while they were searching a dreary back alley in East Clock Town, they scored a hit.

A loud yelp echoed off the alley walls as they rounded a corner, only to see Bomber Three darting in the opposite direction. Link began to pursue him, his stubby legs going as fast as possible. But it wasn't fast enough. Three was leaving them in the dust.

"Come on, get him!" Tatl commanded, peeking out from underneath the hat to watch the action.

Number Three disappeared around a corner; Link followed, but skidded to a halt immediately. They had reached the eastern plaza. Tatl squinted through the cascading rain, searching for a blue Bomber cap, but there was no sign of the little boy. Then something caught her eye. A small trash heap lay by some citizen's door, waiting to be collected. Among this heap was a small cardboard box with two little feet trying to squirm under it.

Tatl let out a small snicker. If the little brat had kept running, he would have gotten away. Too bad for him.

Link was still whipping his head around, trying to figure out where to go. Tatl inched out of his hat and tapped his forehead with a finger. Then she pointed to the box. The feet had disappeared, but it was still shifting as Three tried to make himself comfortable. The little deku scrub approached the box, getting a firm grip on the bottom. Just as he was about to flip it over, a muffled voice burst out, "Wait! I can—I can tell you the other Bombers' locations! Just let me go!"

Tatl narrowed her eyes disbelievingly. "You can, huh? Well let's hear one."

Silence followed her words.

"Tag him, deku kid."

As soon as Link started to lift the box, the shrill sound of a whistle pierced their ears. Tatl smiled deviously. Hopefully all the remaining Bombers would come running at Number Three's distress call. The three of them froze, waiting.

A few seconds went by and nothing happened. Tatl let out a snort of frustration and was ready to tell Link to do away with Three, when a shout reached her ears. She craned her neck to see another Bomber standing on the roof of the milk bar. He jumped, but instead of plummeting to his death, he soared to meet them, gripping the talons of a cuckoo. The massive white bird squawked and beat its wings, scattering a cloud of white feathers.

Four hit the ground hard and stumbled, landing clumsily on his face. Link was on him before he could pick himself up off the ground. He gave a soft groan as the deku scrub tagged him and took him out of the game.

Tatl looked back to see Three burst out of his box and make a run for it. "Hey!" She shouted, darting from the shelter of Link's hat and out into the rain. She was already soaked to the bone so it made no difference anymore. She powered her waterlogged wings with all her might, trying to stay aflight in the rain. She sped ahead of Three and began to harass him like an angry fly. He slowed his pace, flailing his arms to try and swat her away. She narrowly dodged being hit just as Link came running up from behind.

He tagged Three on the back. The Bomber whipped around, his eyes wide with disbelief. "Hey, no fair! The scrub is supposed to tag us!"

"He _did _tag you, in case you hadn't noticed," Tatl sneered, settling back down on Link's wet mop of hair.

Three shook his head furiously. "That's not what I meant. You're not supposed to help him!" He pointed an accusing finger at Tatl and she had to refrain from biting it.

"Look—Deku Boy here had to tag all of you. That was the only requirement. There were no rules that said I couldn't help him!"

The two argued for a full five minutes, but in the end, Tatl won. She watched approvingly as Three gave an indignant huff and trailed after Four, leaving the eastern square behind.

"That's what I like to call killing two Bombers with one stone," Tatl said, gliding down to rest on Link's shoulder. "Let's see, who all did we get? Those two, the creepy pyro, that annoying kid with the camera…wouldn't you know it, Jim's the only one left. How typical."

Link didn't appear to be listening. He was still looking after the two Bombers they had just caught. They were marching to the upper east side of the town, their heads hung in shame.

"Huh," Tatl said thoughtfully, "now where could they be headed off to?"

Link began to follow them, making his squishy footfalls as silent as possible. They peeked around the corner of a building to see that all of the Bombers except Jim had gathered out front the town hall. The kids all looked the same from a distance, their drenched polo shirts clinging to their skinny frames. Tufts of matted hair stuck out from underneath their bandanas and clung to their foreheads. The tiny little yellow Bomber was looking at each of the older Bombers with worried eyes, shivering.

"I can't believe that scrub managed to off four out of five of us! That's 80%!" Three scowled, his hands placed firmly on his hips. "You guys should be ashamed of yourselves."

"Hey. You got caught too, didn't you?" Two said, lounging by the narrow alleyway, fiddling with his remaining stink bomb.

"Not the point!" Three snapped. "What's Jim going to say? I wouldn't be surprised if he kicked us out of the society!"

Four gasped as if that were the worst possible thing that could ever happen to him.

"Don't worry!" Five grinned, holding up his pictograph. "He'll never find Jim. He's still hiding at the old playground in North Clock Town. Wanna see the picture I got?"

Link gave a small start at the location of the final Bomber. He began to turn and run back the way he came, but Tatl pinched his shoulder, bringing him to a halt. "No," she said gleefully, batting her wings and taking to the air, "we gotta do this the right way."

She flew out into the open, with Link following her more tentatively. "Thanks for the tip off, boys!" she called over her shoulder cheerfully. "We'll say hi to Jim when we get there."

All of the Bombers whipped around, staring at them with wide eyes. Three turned and clocked Five on the head, screeching, "idiot!"

Snickering, Tatl led Link to North Clock Town. They could see the playground dripping with rainwater. A small stream ran down the slide and into the mud beneath it, forming a large puddle. At the top of the slide, they could see the top of Jim's red hat as he hunkered down in the shower.

Link gave the playground a wide berth, sneaking around to surprise Jim from behind. Tatl suppressed a smirk and followed him quietly. Jim lifted his head every once in a while to scan the area, then returned to a crouching position. Link scaled the stairs leading to the top as silently as possible, allowing the pattering rain to drown out his footsteps.

When he was just a few feet away from Jim, the Bomber whipped around, letting out a startled cry. Link threw himself forward to tackle the boy, but he had already escaped down the slide. He landed with a splash in the puddle below.

Orange eyes blazing with determination, Link dove after him, going headfirst down the slide. Jim scrambled to his feet, narrowly avoiding the deku scrub that landed in the mud next to him.

"You'll never catch me!" Jim declared, preparing to make a run for it. But his feet slipped out from under him. With a loud squelching sound, he face planted into the muddy ground. Link weakly crawled over and placed a hand on the boy's shoulder. Jim lifted his head, his face coated with sludge.

Tatl flitted over, waiting for the explosion that would no doubt occur.

Jim's filth-caked lips parted. "That…was _awesome_!" He roared, leaping up.

Link shakily rose to his feet, looking satisfied. Jim gave him a playful shove that nearly knocked the tired deku back into the mud. Then his usual nonchalant demeanor settled back over him. He folded his arms, nodding approvingly at Link.

"Nice job, deku kid," he said coolly.

"Don't forget your part of the deal!" Tatl reminded him testily.

"I know, I know!" Jim waved an arm at her, scattering bits of mud in her direction. She backed away, grimacing in disgust. "C'mon. Let's go find the others."

Together, they went back to the Town Hall, leaving a trail of dirty brown water in their wake as the rain washed the mud off their bodies. When the rest of the group came into sight, Jim blew his whistle.

"Alright, guys! Line up," he commanded.

When the other Bombers saw that Link had been victorious, their faces displayed an array of mixed reactions, from surprise to admiration to disdain. But they followed Jim's orders without question. They immediately started scrambling into a line, shifting and shoving around each other to get into a specific sequence. Jim took up a position at the left end of the line.

"Well, deku kid, it's been fun," he said, crossing his arms. "I honestly didn't think you had it in you, but you proved me wrong."

"Cheater," muttered Number Three.

"We don't give our secrets away to just anybody, so I hope you understand-"

"Yeah, yeah," Tatl interrupted. "We get it, this is a once-in-a-lifetime event! Just tell us the code."

Narrowing his eyes, Jim turned his gaze to Tatl and opened his mouth as if he were going to say something, but then he just closed it and gave her a bleak stare.

"Mr. Shinkashi's telescope is amazing!" Five blurted out, demonstrating his knack for breaking awkward silences. ("_Shi_kashi," corrected Three.) "He has a lot of cool stuff over at his place!"

"…Yeah," said Jim, disregarding Tatl. "Professor Shikashi's a pretty cool old guy." He directed Link's attention to the narrow alley behind them. "I guess you figured it out already, but this is the secret entrance to his observatory. You'll be allowed in until we change the pass code again next week. Just tell our guard Bobby—where's Bobby?"

One of the other Bombers shoved the little yellow-capped Bomber out in front of the line.

"This is Bobby," Jim went on. "You'll want to tell him the code. Once you do that, just keep following the alley due east, and then…well, it's pretty obvious where you should go after that." He paused, considering Link thoughtfully. "If only you were human. Then I could give you an original Bombers' Notebook and make you an official member. What do you guys think?"

"No way! No scrubs!" cried a couple of the other Bombers.

Jim shook his head. "Yeah. Sorry, not gonna happen. But we'll teach you the code, just like we promised." He smiled mischievously and said in a hushed voice, "_are you ready?!_"

Link gave him an eager nod. Jim turned around. One by one, the other Bombers followed suit, turning away to reveal the order of the numbers on the backs of their shirts.

Tatl's jaw dropped. "No. No way. You have _got_ to be kidding me. That's the code?!"

"Yup!" said Jim. "Don't forget it 'cause we're only going to show you once!"

"One, two, three, four, five?!" Tatl exclaimed, looking absolutely petrified.

"Shh! Not so loud!" somebody said.

"You're telling me we wasted an entire day running around in the pouring down rain like a couple of nitwits for," Tatl clutched her head, desperately trying not to start tearing her hair out. "_One, two, three, four, five?!"_

The Bombers looked at each other.

"Well, everybody was having problems remembering it sooo…" Jim shrugged.

"You mean _Bobby_ was having problems remembering it," said Three, eyeing the littlest Bomber with contempt.

Bobby looked around frantically. "What?! What'd I do?!"

Tatl just stared at boys incredulously, at a complete loss for words.

Number Four leaped into the air. "Bombers Secret Society of Justice forever!" he proclaimed proudly, making a little salute.

"Bombers Secret Society of Justice!" the others all cried in unison. That is, all but Number Five, who was a little late on the uptake.

Tatl opened her mouth to berate them, but what came out instead was a little bout of insane laughter. It took every ounce of willpower in her little body not to fly at the nearest Bomber and start ripping one of his ears off right then and there.

"You know what guys?" she said finally, in a voice so sickly sweet it was scary. "Screw you. All of you. I wish you would all go die in a hole somewhere."

Jim blew his whistle once more and dismissed his comrades, a small smirk curling his lips. "The feeling is mutual, Tatl."

**-o-o-o-o-o-**

**A/N: **Fun fact: Bobby and Number Five are brothers. Also, Bobby Bomber. Bob-omb. Get it?

Don't hate me.

My editor/sister (Hoprocker) and I decided to do a little trade and write 3 pages of each others' stories that were giving us writer's block. I wrote a reaping for her Hunger Games story, and in exchange she wrote the part where Link catches Bombers 3, 4, and Jim. So that portion is credited to her. Could you tell it was written by a different person?

I consider this chapter to be a milestone, because this arc is now more than halfway over. Link and Tatl's days of running aimlessly around Clock Town are behind, and the [relatively more] interesting stuff is ahead! Also, school is back, which means you can be sure I'll be disappearing for a while (but hopefully not for 4 months!). Spring semester isn't nearly as bad as Fall without marching band and music composition sucking up all my time and creative energy, so I think I might be able to manage one update/month and at least keep this story alive...? I don't know, we'll see. I'll shoot for that, but I won't make any promises.


End file.
